Lily and James: A Broken Team
by Zuvie Girl
Summary: A Lily and James story with a twist. They both played Quidditch as 2nd years, and then split apart. Later, James realizes that he likes Lily and tries desperatly to get her back. This will go from 2nd year to a year or so after graduation.
1. Back to School

CHAPTER 1 

Shaking her messy, red ponytail out of her face, Lily Evans hugged her mum and dad and quickly darted through a wall and into her second year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

She did a mental check. Ponytail, a trunk full of jeans and t-shirts, owl, and new broom. She didn't forget anything.

Just as she finished her check, a voice called out, "Lily!" Two dark haired boys followed the voice over to her.

Lily grinned, "Hey James, Sirius! How was your summer?"

"Forget that Lils," James Potter said. "Lets talk in the compartment so we don't miss the train!"

"Let me take your stuff for you Lily," Sirius Black said, earning him a slap.

"I'm not a wimp, Sirius," Lily protested. "I can carry my own stuff, lead the way."

She pulled her trunk along behind her friends and fellow Gryffindors. They entered a train compartment that already held two boys.

After heaving her trunk onto the rack, Lily flopped down onto a bench and said, "How were your summers?"

"Great!" "Amazing!" were the simultaneous replies from James and Sirius.

The sandy haired boy with a book, Remus Lupin, said, "Can't complain."

The final boy, Peter Pettigrew, said, "P-pretty good, Lil-Lily. What a-about you?"

Lily grimaced. "I had a great time, because living without magic is so fun. I'd much rather be back here, where I can be away from Petunia, dress how I like to, and be with my friends."

"Did anything good happen, Lily?" asked Remus.

She smiled. "Yes, actually there was one really good thing. My parents bought me a new Nimbus!"

"You're kidding!" James cried. "Mine did too!" Are you gonna try out for the team?"

"Probably," Lily replied. "Chaser, I think."

"We're bound to have a great team," Sirius said. "Me as a beater, and you and James as chasers. We'll be unstoppable!"

"Don't gloat, Sirius," Remus lectured with a smile.

"Awww, shut up, Remy!" Sirius said, laughing. "You're just jealous that we can play Quidditch and you can't!"

"Hey!" Remus protested. "What about Pete?" 

"Pete's jealous of everything about us," James said.

"You're so mean," Lily said, pulling out a book. "I'm not even gonna listen anymore."

"Watcha gonna read Lils?" James asked, just before lunging to get it. A smile lit up his face "_Quidditch Through the Ages_! Excellent!"

"I know," Lily said, sarcastically. "It's a good book, which would explain why I'm _trying_ to read it."

"No books, Lily," Sirius said. "None for you either, Remy. Let's have fun before getting bullied by mean teachers."

"But reading is-" Lily and Remus both protested.

"Not fun," James finished. "Exploding Snap?" 

So the five of them spent the rest of the train ride playing games and laughing with each other.

Lily went off to another, all girl compartment to change, and met back up with the boys.

Once they got to Hogsmeade Station, Lily, James, Sirius, and Remus, the four who could run,, quickly piled into one of the horseless carriages, leaving Peter to find another.

The four of the discussed Quidditch and laughed until they walked through the oak doors and formally into their second year at Hogwarts.


	2. The Dream Team

CHAPTER 2: DREAM TEAM 

The four of them took their seats in the Great Hall and eagerly waited for the sorting to get over.

"I hope it doesn't always take this long," grunted Sirius. "I'm starving!"

Lily laughed and shushed him, to see who the new Gryffindors were. Alanna Appleby, Miranda Cowels, Susette Nevan, Diane Frosh, and Ali and Calli Chase were the new Gryffindor girls. Lily didn't pay (or actually couldn't) much attention to the boys.

Dumbledore stood up and said, "Welcome to another year at Hogwarts. A few reminders. There is a list of banned items posted by the caretakers office that I strongly encourage a certain few students to actually take seriously this year."

"Will do, Professor!" James yelled out, earning a slap and laughs from Lily and his friends.

Dumbledore's eyes twinkled and he continued, "Thank you, Mr. Potter. The Forbidden Forest is still forbidden, and when in Hogsmeade, I encourage you all to stay away from the Shrieking Shack. Thank you, and dig in!"

"Finally!" both James and Sirius yelled, heaping their plates with whatever they could get their hands on.

"Hey, James?" Lily said.

"Wha'?" he replied through a mouthful of food.

"Ew! Um, when are Quidditch tryouts, and should we practice beforehand?" 

"Doo das Wils. Sorry, two days. Practice I could do, even thought for me it's completely unnecessary," James said. "Are you free tomorrow after classes?"

"Yeah."

"Great!" James said. "Meet me and Sirius in the Entrance Hall an hour and a half before dinner."

"Wait," Sirius said. "What am I doing tomorrow?"

"Quidditch!" Remus said. "How could you not hear that? You were involved in the conversation! I wasn't and I could still hear them!"

"Jeesh, sorry Remus," Sirius said, rolling his eyes.

"I'll see you guys tomorrow," Lily said, walking away.

"Bye Lils!" James and Sirius screamed.

The next day, Lily walked down into the common room and was instantly pulled out the portrait hole.

"You're late, Lils!" James whined. "We can't go to breakfast without you."

"Sorry," Lily said, rolling her eyes. "You could have gone without me."

"Oh. Let's go!"

The two of them slid into their seats next to Sirius, Remus, and Peter and waited for the schedules.

"Oh, James, you had an owl," Sirius said. "It's from your mum."

"How'd you know that?"

"I read it," Sirius said, giving James the letter.

"You idiot!" James said, reading his letter.

"Mr. Potter!" Professor McGonagall said, as she handed out schedules. "Be nicer to your friends!"

"But-but, Professor…"

"Good day, Mr. Potter."

Sirius had been looking at his schedule while James was being yelled at. "This stinks! Double Potions, History of Magic, and Double Herbology today. Fun!"

"Hey, cheer up, Sirius!" James said. "We've got Quidditch practice tonight, and my mum's gonna send us candy, and lots of it!"

"Lets go to class," Lily said.

"But it's Potions," whined James and Sirius.

"And I like Potions. See you there!"

Lily ran upstairs after lessons to grab her broom, gloves, and a jacket. After changing out of her school uniform, she ran down to the Entrance Hall, panting.

"Gosh, Lils," James said, shouldering his broom. "We've been waiting."

"No they haven't," Remus said, from behind a book. "We got here a minute ago."

Sirius scowled. "Way to spoil the fun, Remy."

The four of them walked out to the pitch laughing.

"Can you throw and catch a quaffle?" James asked.

Lily rolled her eyes. "I wouldn't be trying out if I couldn't do that."

"Good point. Lets play catch on the ground for a bit while Sirius is doing whatever beaters do for practice."

The two of the played for ten minutes before James signaled for Lily to duck the next ball. He chucked it and it hit Remus' book right on the binding, preventing it from hitting his head.

Remus put down his book and slowly looked up and started on James.

James pulled Lily in front of him and kept moving her between him and Remus.

"James," Remus said patiently. "What prompted you to throw something at my head?"

James repositioned Lily and said, "Sorry? I didn't mean to."

"Yeah, whatever. Let me read my book, okay?"

James caught the quaffle again and grabbed his broom. "Come on Lils. Sirius keep for us, will you?"

He and Lily took turns scoring on Sirius, who wasn't that great of a keeper.

Once the three of them were confident in their abilities, they went back up to the castle to do their homework.

The next day the group went through their classes and met up in the Entrance Hall to trek out to the pitch.

Lily and James watched the tryouts for the one available beater position. Sirius hit all five targets dead on, and blocked every hit towards his 'team-mate.'

James and Lily clapped as Sirius was made the beater and mounted their brooms for their tryouts.

The two of them caught and passed perfectly. They both out smarted the keeper and scored ten out of ten times.

The team captain, Alec Downs, flew over and said, "Evans, Potter, the two of you play amazingly together!"

"So we've got the spots?" Lily asked anxiously.

"Of course. I'd be mad to not put you on my team! Practice tomorrow at 7."

The two of them walked up to the castle, and about halfway there, James went down, tackled by Sirius.

"You make it?" Sirius asked.

"Nope," James said. "Me and Lils work really well together apparently. Of course, we made it!"

"Awesome!" Sirius yelled. "We are definitely gonna kick butt this year!"


	3. Pranking with Peeves

Lily woke up to a blaring siren and sleepily climbed out of bed

Lily woke up to a blaring siren and sleepily climbed out of bed. She slid down the stairs and stared at James.

"What?" she asked. "I'm trying to sleep, James. It's a SATURDAY!"

"I know," he said, shrugging. "We wanted help on the potions essay."

"And you couldn't have asked me about this later?"

He looked around and whispered, "We're gonna go out to Hogsmeade and plan a prank, and you're gonna come with."

"But, we're not third years, and it's not even a Hogsmeade weekend."

"Ssh!" James hissed. "Hurry up and get ready, then come help us with our Potions."

Lily ran up the stairs and quickly got ready.

She ran down into the common room and was greeted by Sirius saying, "I could have been done already, Lils."

"Yeah, sure, Sirius. You needed 15 inches of essay. Let me see your parchment."

"No way, José," Sirius said.

Lily snatched the parchment and squinted to read, "_'Common Antidotes--Sirius Black_.' Merlin, Sirius, you've had a week! Start on it, ask me or Remus if you need help - and only after you've written some of it."

Remus groaned, "Gee, thanks, Lily. You've just offered my help to a crazy person!"

Lily grinned sheepishly and opened a book, only to be interrupted by James asking, "Lils, how do you spell 'B-E-Z-O-A-R'?"

"B-E- What? You're an idiot, James. You and Sirius ought to hurry if you want to carry out any of your plans."

An hour later, James and Sirius ran upstairs to take care of their school stuff. They came down with moneybags and motioned for Lily, Remus, and Peter to follow them outside.

"So where are we going?" Lily asked loudly, as she and the boys walked the halls.

"Would you be quiet, Lils!" James hissed. "We're going to Hogsmeade, and we're coming out at Honeydukes.

They reached a seemingly empty corridor and stopped at a statue of a humpback/one-eyed witch.

Sirius and Remus went to opposite ends of the corridor and gave James an all-clear sign.

James tapped the statue with his wand, and said, "Dissendium"

The hump opened up and James pushed Peter, then Lily into the hole. Remus and Sirius ran and jumped into the hole, and James followed, closing the passage behind him, shutting out all light.

Lily looked around and saw that the boys had apparently left her.

"James?" she called out. "Remus, Sirius, Peter? AGHH!!"

All of a sudden, she was lifted off her feet. Panicking, she kicked out and got a grunt of pain in reply as she fell to the ground.

"Ouch, Lily! You just kicked my kneecap!" James said.

"And you, James Potter, just scared me half to death! Now we're even! Lead on and light the way, Sirius."

The five of them came to a wooden door, and Sirius stuck his head through, only to give another all clear sign.

They walked up into the cellar and James leaned over to whisper, "Lils, this is the Honeydukes store room, so be quiet."

"I'm not the one talking!" she hissed back.

Shaking his head, Remus led them to another door and was shoved out of the way by Sirius.

He cracked the door open, and pointed his wand at a jar of candy across the store. The jar fell, and the clerk hurried to clean it up, while the five kids snuck into the store.

James said, "Hold on, lets get some food." He then grabbed a basket full of candy and waited for the clerk to come back.

"Aren't ya'll supposed to be at school?" the man asked.

"Ve are on holiday visiting vith our grandparents," James said, with a heavy accent.

"Ya'll aint all siblings. None of you look similar at all, except for you and him," the shopkeeper said, pointing at Sirius who was shaking with laughter. "What's his problem?"

"He is disturbed in the head. And ve are not siblings, ve are all cousins, visiting vith our grandparents at the same time. Please ring up the candy so ve can leave."

The man did just that, and the five of them walked over to a grassy area and sat around a big tree stump.

"Wow, James, that was very impressive," Remus said.

"Yea, because two blond people, two dark haired people, and a red head, are likely to be cousins from a place where people talk with bad accents," Lily added.

Sirius glared at his friend and said, "Disturbed in the head, eh?"

James shrugged. "I couldn't tell the guy that you were laughing because it was all a huge lie. And Remy, thanks; I'm glad I impressed you. Lils, you're too logical. Pete, do you have anything to say?"

Peter looked up from the grass and said, "I thought the whole thing was a little funny."

"Good, thanks for being supportive."

"If you don't mind, James, can you please start whatever it was that we snuck out of school for?" Lily said.

"Right. It's going to be a prank on the Slytherins-"

"Specifically Malfoy, Snivellus, and my cousin," Sirius added.

"Again, right," James said. "But we don't know what to do. We want it to be noticeable to people, but we just don't know. That's hopefully where you come in Lils."

She thought and said, "Well, they all have longish hair, right? Why not cut it or something? I don't know how you'd do that without getting caught, but-"

"Excellent idea Lils!" James said. "Remy, Pete, Sirius, what do you think?"

They all nodded their agreement in some way or another.

"Now, how to do it, how to do it?" Sirius mused. "Peeves would seem like the logical answer. I mean, give him scissors and send him off."

"I think that's the only way to do it," Remus agreed.

"Wait, you talk with Peeves? I mean, you negotiate with him?" Lily asked, amazed.

"He seems to like our pranks, and he loves being in on them," James said, matter of factly.

The five of them finished all of their candy and went back through the tunnel and into the corridor.

They were lucky, because Peeves was floating right down the corridor.

"Peeves!" James yelled.

"Ah, Master Potter has a job for Peevesie, yes?"

"Yes indeed! We need you to take these scissors, and tonight once everyone is asleep, go and cut Bellatrix Black's hair, along with Severus Snape, and Lucious Malfoy. You know all them, right?"

"Yes, sir, Master Potter! Peevesie would be glad to do you bidding. You'll see his artwork in the morning."

The next morning, Lily met up with the four boys early and they all ran off to the Great Hall.

They tried to act nonchalantly, but they couldn't contain their excitement and eagerness to see the Slytherins.

They all jumped when McGonagall came up behind them and said, "And why are the five of us here so early this morning?"

"You know us, Professor. We're always hungry."

"Yes, but why is Miss Evans here, and why are you all so jumpy?" McGonagall asked.

Lily jumped to the rescue there. "Professor, I always eat with my friends, and if they go early, I go early. And you have to admit, you snuck up on us like a cat sneaks up on a mouse."

"Be that it may, I'm still going to be watching you," she said, walking away.

After letting out their breath, the five of them started to eat. They were interrupted when the first Slytherins came into the hall.

"Act natural," Remus said through his teeth.

So, the friends did just that, and talked about classes while eating. That is, until they saw their first victim and Sirius dropped his fork.

"Wow," they all said together as they looked at Bellatrix. Her previously long, black hair was cut to just above her ears and was choppy and sticking up.

Lucious Malfoy came in, his blond hair cut short on both sides of his face, then a little longer, then very short on the back of his head.

Snape's hair appeared normal, except for the hair on the back of his head that was cut very short.

The five of them tore their eyes away and Sirius said, "Wow, we have got to do something to repay Peeves. It's gonna take forever for Bella to grow her hair out again, Snape and Malfoy will have to even out their hair, and they all look like idiots! He did great!"

"Yeah, actually I think he did," Lily said. "Thanks for letting me in on one of your pranks."

"No problem, Lils," James said, putting his arm around her shoulders.

She shrugged it off and on seeing their teacher walking over, hissed, "McGonagall!"

"Hello again, Professor!" Remus said, brightly.

"Have the five of you seen Black, Black, Malfoy, and Snape this morning?"

"Yes, ma'am. It looks like they should sue their hairdressers," Sirius said.

McGonagall hardened her gaze. "You're behind it, I know you are. How is it that the four Slytherins you loathe the most have had disasters of haircuts?"

James said, "I don't know, Professor. It is odd though."

"You can't possibly think we did it, Professor," Lily said. "For one, we were doing out potions essays until 11 last night, and I would have seen them leave. Two, Bellatrix was hit, and boys can't get up the stairs. And three, none of the Gryffindors know the Slytherin password."

McGonagall scowled. "All good points, Evans. I'm still going to be watching you."


	4. First Match

It was the day before the first Quidditch game of the season, and Lily, James, and Sirius were walking down to the pitch for their final practice

It was the day before the first Quidditch game of the season, and Lily, James, and Sirius were walking down to the pitch for their final practice.

James looked at Lily and laughed. "Lils, you look nervous. Are you?"

She shot him a look and said, "No, I'm just shaking because I'm cold in the 60 degree weather. Yes, I'm nervous! I've never played in a game before, and I know you and Sirius have played against friends!"

James stepped away from Lily and put his hands up, saying, "Jeesh, I surrender!"

"Don't worry Lils," Sirius said. "Unless you get beamed in the head by a bludger, you'll do fine. You, James, and Ben, he's the other chaser right? You guys are like unstoppable."

Lily glared at Sirius and said, "Oh thanks. I'll be sure to stay away from you during practice. See you on the field."

She went off on her own to change into her Quidditch robes and met up with the rest of the team on the field.

"Okay, now that everyone is here," Alec said, "Let's review. We play Hufflepuff, so it probably won't be an extremely violent game, on their part at least. Black, lets try to keep it clean on our side."

"Aww, I'd never play dirty," Sirius said.

"Yes, you would," the team agreed.

Alec continued. "Right, so I guess we could just treat this game as a scrimmage type thing. As a practice for the Slytherin game. They do have a good Seeker though, so watch her. Now, lets just run through all of our plays, and do a few laps. Go!"

Lily, James, and the other Chaser, Ben, ran through all of their plays perfectly. That is, if perfect is excluding Ben just a little bit.

Sirius and the other Beater, Shawn, hit all of their targets dead on, and managed to keep all of their teammates safe.

After an hour of running plays, the team lined up for a few races. Sirius knocked a few people down, James took the lead, and beat Lily by just a few inches every single time. They finished the last race and went to change again.

Lily met up with Sirius and James and walked back up to the school. "How come you always beat me, James?" Lily complained.

He shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe I have a better broom."

"We have the exact same model."

"Oh, yeah. Then, I'm just the better player," James said.

'Ugh," Lily complained. "Whatever, cheater. I'm going up to bed. See you tomorrow."

Lily woke up early, very early. She walked into the common room and saw that she wasn't the only person to have pre-game jitters. James and Sirius were already down too.

Lily was walking down to the pitch with James and Sirius, wringing her hands and complaining of nerves.

James spun around, grabbed Lily by the shoulders, and shook her. "My god, Lils! Shut up! You're good, I'm good, and we're good together! You'll do fine, just don't worry!"

Lily grinned. "Thanks, I guess. See you both in a few minutes," she said, heading into the girls part of the locker room.

Minutes later, fifteen fliers stood on the field. The balls were released, the whistle blown, and the game started.

The commentator, Chase Daniels, began to talk. "Gryffindor chaser James Potter got the grab. And he's weaving between the Hufflepuff chasers, and he's stopped by a near miss from a bludger! Bludger hit by Hufflepuff Mitch Woodward, and blocked by Gryffindor Sirius Black! Potter threw throws the quaffle over his head to his fellow chaser LiIy Evans. Evans ducks a bludger, shoots up through the opening, hand off to Potter, who gets it past Hufflepuff keeper Don Diol to score! 10-0 Gryffindor!..."

"...that point by Evans brings the score to 60-10 Gryffindor! Now would be a good time to mention that Black, Evans, and Potter are all second years- And Gryffindor seeker has gone into a dive! Hufflepuff seeker Ali Barnes is following him, but Niless has a commanding lead. He pulls out of the dive, and does he? He does! Spectacular catch by Gryffindor's Tim Niless! The game is over, Gryffindor wins it, 210-10! Potter has talent folks, and apparently together with Evans, the Gryffindor team can't lose!"

James flew in next to Lily and gave her a one armed hug, "See, Lils? We're unstoppable! You had nothing to worry about!"

Sirius flew over, "Party in the common room! Would you guys hurry up!"

Lily and James both laughed, and the three of them drifted to the ground together.

"There'll be a full out party going, so hurry up, Lils," James said.

"Oh, don't worry, James," Lily said. "I'm sure I'll be there before you two."

Sure enough, Lily skidded to a stop in front of the fat lady seconds ahead of her friends.

"Ha!" she said, turning to the boys. "I did beat you here!"

James looked at her, appalled. "Lils, you can't hardly say you beat us if we were right behind you the whole way!"

"Oh? I just did though."

Sirius cut in. "Oi! There's food in there, prats! Go inside."

The three friends went inside to be greeted by a roar of noise. It looked like everyone year two and up was in the common room, eating, dancing, and toasting to the team.

Parties soon became regular for the Gryffindors as they proceeded to beat Ravenclaw, and then Slytherin, both by large margins.

That only meant one thing, one thing that put the whole school on edge. Gryffindor, was to play Slytherin in the finals.

Once again, Lily found herself walking nervously down to the pitch.

And once again, James had to tell her to not be nervous. "Quit with the nerves, Lils! You're making me more nervous than I already was."

"Oh ho, so the great and mighty James Potter does get nervous!" Lily laughed.

James smiled and said, "See, Lils, unlike you, I don't typically let my nerves show. See you on the field.

Several minutes later found the two teams on the pitch. The balls were released, the whistle blown, and James shot forward to grab the quaffle.

Chase Daniels picked up the commentary. "Potter has the quaffle, weaving between Slytherins. He dodges a bludger hit by Malfoy…who is not a beater…Potter drops the quaffle as he nears the goal, Evans catches it and SCORE! 10-0 Gryffindor!"

"Evans retrieves the quaffle, takes a quick look back as Black blocks a bludger for her. ("Watch your back, Lils!) Evans throws the quaffle over her head, flies lower and slower as Potter flies by. He does the same move, Evans throws it back, and Potter scores! 20-0 Gryffindor!"

The crowd was going wild; it was definitely the final they wanted to see.

…"It's all tied up, 80-80. What a game! The seekers are diving! And it's Gryffindor's Tim Niless with the catch! Gryffindor wins 230-80! They've got the cup! Hey now! What's this?"

Lily didn't notice Malfoy shooting toward her. That is, she didn't notice until she felt the impact that send her flying off her broom.

She was falling. She was hearing a whistle, a noisy crowd, and a couple of people screaming her name, but she was falling.

James and Sirius shot towards her, and the two of them managed to catch her about 3 feet from the ground.

Lily looked up, amazed that she hadn't been killed, and blacked out.

Lily stirred and opened her eyes, to find herself in the hospital wing, her four friends sleeping in chairs around her bed.

Then she groaned. She had a massive headache and her arm hurt.

The nurse must have heard her, because she bustled over with a tray of potions, saying, "Potter! Black! Move over for a minute!"

Lily quickly drank the bitter potions and followed them up with a glass of cold water.

She grimaced and blinked at the two awake boys. "Ugh. What happened?"

Both James and Sirius got crazed looks in their eyes, but Sirius managed to growl, "Malfoy! He knocked you off your broom!"

Lily weakly told Sirius to shut up, and said, "I know that! What happened when I fell?"

"Me and Sirius saw you falling and flew in to catch you," James said. "It was close. We got you stopped about three feet above the ground."

"And Malfoy?" Lily coughed.

She accepted the glass of water from James, and listened as Sirius said, "Bloody prat is banned from Quidditch indefinitely!"

"Good!" Lily said, coughing. She looked over at Remus, who had now woken up.

He saw her and said, "Hey Lily. How're you feeling?"

She laughed a little and said, "I feel as good as a person can feel if they just fell about a hundred feet. I actually feel okay, except for a bruised arm and headache."

"And you're all good friends for catching her and waiting for her to wake up, and she will most likely be released later tonight. However, if you don't leave, she won't get the rest she needs. Scat!" the nurse said.

As the boys left, the nurse quietly said, "You're lucky you've got such good friends."

Lily took the offered potion, and slowly nodded her head. "I know."


	5. End of the Year

It had been a week since Lily had been released from the hospital wing, a week of testing and relaxation following that

It had been a week since Lily had been released from the hospital wing, a week of testing and relaxation following that.

James, Sirius, Remus, Peter, and Lily were sitting out by the lake, talking.

"I thought the Transfiguration exam was hard," Peter said. "Come to think of it, the Potions, Charms, and DADA ones were hard, too."

James and Sirius, who were lying lazily on the ground, both said, "You would."

After pushing himself up, James said, "The only one that I found even remotely hard was History of Magic."

"Well, if you would take notes-" Lily said, getting cut off by Remus.

"Trouble," was all he said, looking at a spot above James' head.

Lucious Malfoy was walking toward them, flanked by Snape and Regulus Black.

Sirius looked and rolled his eyes, muttering, "Fun."

"Evans," Malfoy said, when he reached the tree.

"Malfoy. How's your new haircut treating you?"

He ignored her and said, "How're you felling, Evans? For someone who was almost killed, you…well you still look like a mudblood. You're lucky Potter and Black are blood traitors and caught you."

James and Sirius were up now, muttering curses under their breath.

Lily motioned for them to sit down and said, "And how's Quidditch going for you? Got a lot of flying in lately?"

Seeing that Malfoy was seething, Lily motioned for the boys to follow her up to the castle for the closing feast.

"Dang, Lils," Sirius said, catching up with Lily. "You showed him! I hate to say it, but I'm impressed. I'd have hexed the crap out of him."

"Yeah, Lils, why didn't you let us get him?"

"Because, if you went after him, Sirius' stupid little brother would have ran and told on us. Then, you would have gotten in trouble and lost us a boatload of points. And if you lost us a lot of points, we would lose the cup that we're about to get."

After eating their last Hogwarts meal for theirs second year, the five Gryffindors turned their attention to Dumbledore.

"Before I present the House and Quidditch cups, I'd like to thank you all for a wonderful year here at Hogwarts."

People clapped half-heartedly, waiting for the exciting part of the evening.

Dumbledore continued, "Now, without further ado, may I present the Quidditch cup? Gryffindor team, please come up here."

Everyone, with the exception of the Slytherins, exploded with applause as the team lifted the cup.

"The final thing on the agenda tonight is the awarding of the House cup. In fourth place, with 296 points, is Ravenclaw! In third, with 297 points, is Slytherin! In second, with 339 points is Hufflepuff! I think a round of applause is now necessary. Thank you. This years House cup goes to Gryffindor, with 382 points! Congratulations, Gryffindor!"

With a wave of his wand, the school banners were replaced with red and gold Gryffindor banners, to a roar of applause.

Hats flew through the air, and people were screaming, cheering, and high-fiving.

After about five minutes of unbelievable chaos, Dumbledore stood up and said, "Yes, congratulations, Gryffindor! My send off for you is this. For you seventh years, thank you for seven wonderful years. I wish you the best of luck with the rest of your lives. To everyone else, I look forward to seeing you next year, and remember, no magic out of school. Off you go!"

As the five Gryffindors walked to the common room, Sirius said, "You know, I always hope he'll forget to say that."

"It's only the second time you've heard it, but did you realize he was looking right at you?" Lily said.

"Now, why would he look at us, we wouldn't break the rules," James said.

Remus, Peter, and Lily all looked at James in disbelief.

"You'd break rules because you're you," Remus said, before giving the password. "Amortentia."

As they walked into the common room, the dispersed, James and Sirius kicking their feet up on a coach, Remus taking out a book, and Lily and Peter going to their rooms.

"What?" James asked. "Don't you want to sit and talk with us?"

"As much as I'd love to talk with you about rule breaking, I've got to finish packing, and I need to sleep," Lily said. "See you guys on the train. Or at a carriage?"

"Sure thing," Sirius said as Lily walked away. He turned on Peter. "And you, Pete? You don't' want to talk with James and Remy and me?"

"Not really. Night."

Remus called from over his book, "Don't expect me to talk, I'm reading."

Eventually, they all ended up in bed, to sleep away their last night as second years, and eager to go home.


	6. Heading Home

Lily woke up the next morning and double-checked her room for anything that she forgot to pack

Lily woke up the next morning and double-checked her room for anything that she forgot to pack. Seeing that she had missed nothing, she locked her trunk and walked down to the common room.

"Hey, Lils," James said from a chair. "You ready to go home?"

She raised her eyebrows. "I must not have told you anything about my sister. Let's just say I like the castle better, I'll tell you about it on the train."

Sirius walked into the room with a piece of toast. "I like the castle better too. My house is like a house of torture. Oh, and by the way, the carriages are ready. Where's Remy?"

At that moment, Remus walked down the stairs, holding a book. "_Remus_ is right here, 'Siri.' What about Peter?"

"Tough luck for him," James said. "Four per carriage, and lets see, one, two, three, and four, we're already set. Lets go."

They got to the horseless carriage and were riding to the train station as James said, "Hey, Sirius, you didn't happen to find any more breakfast, did you?"

Sirius smiled and patted a basket that none of his friends had seen. "James, mate, I have enough breakfast for all of us, don't worry."

About ten minutes later, Lily and the boys were in the same compartment as they were on the way to school.

Sirius had spread out his picnic breakfast, and the Gryffindors were eating and talking as the train picked up speed.

"So what about your sister, Lils?" James asked.

Lily scowled. "Well, you know how I'm muggle-born? My older sister, Petunia, hates me because I'm a witch, and I have friends, and I'm popular. She's just really jealous of me, I guess, and she makes home life for me miserable. So, I'd much rather be somewhere like Hogwarts, where I can have fun and talk civilly with my friends, than be at home where I can't do magic and have to suffer with my sister."

"Does your sister need a pranking, Lils?" Sirius asked, with a glint in his eye.

"She does, but sadly we're not allowed to do magic. No- stop, I don't even want to know what you can do without magic. Don't worry though, I'll make her life as equally miserable as she makes mine."

By that time, the food had all been eaten, and Peter had joined them. The conversation, as expected at some point, had turned to Quidditch.

"So how awesome was our team this year?" James asked.

"I'd say it was pretty awesome, considering you beat every team you played," Peter said.

"Yea, and Sirius only managed to send four people to the Hospital wing, which I'm guessing is going to be a new record," Remus commented.

"HEY!" Sirius protested. "Do you think I _like_ to hurt people?"

Four heads nodded simultaneously.

"I'm sure you don't mean to hurt the people that you either ram off their brooms or nail with a well aimed bludger," Remus said.

"Well, I don't mean for them to go to the hospital. Unless they're Slytherins, or course."

"Two were Slytherins, one was a Ravenclaw, and one was Ben, the other _Gryffindor_ chaser," Lily commented, dryly.

"That one was an accident."

James rolled his eyes, and said, "So both of you are gonna play next year, right?"

"Um…yeah," Sirius and Lily both said.

"Good! Because I don't think Gryffindor team could be as perfect as it was this year. So, did you guys hear about the Irish team's seeker? He partied a little bit too much after a win and flew his broom right into a muggle house. The Ministry covered it up, of course, but the seeker got in a fair bit of trouble."

Remus tried to change the conversation. "So did you give any thought to what new classes you're gonna take next year?"

Lily drew herself away from Quidditch to say, "Arithmancy, Muggle Studies, and maybe something else, I'm not sure."

"Hey!" Sirius yelled. "Lils, come back and talk about Quidditch, don't let Remy suck you farther into the learning world than you already have been sucked!"

By that time, the train was beginning to slow down. Lily went off to change into muggle clothes, and rejoined the boys in their compartment.

"How is it that the four times we've ridden the train so far, you've had the same compartment?" Lily asked.

"Everyone is just too scared and in too much awe of us," Sirius said.

"We're only second years. I can definitely see why people would be scared and in awe of you," Lily said.

"There you go, then, that's why we always have this compartment."

Lily shook her head and the five of them got off the train.

Peter and Remus both quickly found their parents and left the group.

A mean looking woman marched over and started to pull Sirius away.

"Mum! I'm talking to my friends, for Merlin's sake!"

"Friends?" Mrs. Black asked. "What are they, blood traitors or mudbloods?"

"Neither," Sirius said coolly, planting his feet. "Lils, James, I have to go, apparently, now. "Not sure if I'll be able to send letters or see you guys over break, so if not, see you next year."

At that point, Mrs. Black succeeded in moving Sirius. "Disgrace of a son! Why can't you do as you're told?"

As they walked off, Lily turned to James and said, "And that's why he didn't want to go home. That makes perfect sense."

"Oh, there's my mum!" they both said at the same time.

After turning to each other and laughing, they said goodbyes and headed off to their respective mothers.

END YEAR TWO!


	7. Good Friends no Longer

START YEAR THREE

START YEAR THREE!

CHAPTER 7

James walked with his mum through Kings Cross, pushing his trunk and owl on a trolley.

They stopped in front of the barrier to Platform 9 ¾, and Mrs. Potter said, "Sorry I can't send your train off, James, honey. Like I said earlier, the Ministry is really busy as of late."

"I know, mum. Love you, bye."

"James," she said, grabbing her son's shoulder, and spinning him to face her. "Three things. One, I don't want any letters from Minerva McGonagall accusing you of misdemeanors. Two, I want you to write your father and I every week. Three, have fun, and for Merlin's sake, _learn something_ this year!"

"Alright, mum, will do. Love you."

With that, James turned his trolley and walked onto the platform.

Almost instantly, he heard his name being called by three voices, and walked over to join Sirius, Remus, and Peter.

"So, you couldn't escape your mum?" James asked Sirius.

"Nah, I'd have no place to go."

"You could have come to my house," James said. "All of you."

Remus shook his head, sadly. "Not me, mate. I need to see my grandmum for three or four days each month, and wouldn't want to cause you any trouble, Ja-"

His eyes grew wide as he broke off and started at a spot on the platform.

"Remy?" Sirius asked, turning to look where Remus was. "What are you look-"

After Sirius too broke off, James said, "What!" He turned and joined his friends in staring at one Lily Evans, who was completely different from when they last saw her.

She had traded her jeans for a thigh-length black skirt. She wore an emerald sweater set that matched her eyes. Her hair was gently curled and framed her lightly make-upped face.

"Lily! Hey, Lils!" Sirius yelled, snapping out of his stupor.

She smiled and pushed the trolley over to the boys.

James blinked and shook his head, saying, "Lils! You look, um-"

"Different," Remus finished.

Lily spun around. "Do you like it?"

"Yeah," James managed. "You look amazing!"

"Thanks! I'm off to find where my friends are sitting!" Lily said.

"Same place as always, but we're not getting on the train for a few minutes."

"Oh, James, I'm sorry," Lily said. "I told Cali, Dina, and Steph that I'd sit with them. See you later!"

With a wave, Lily left her friends, standing dumbfounded on the platform.

"Well, that was odd," Remus said after a few minutes of silence.

"You're telling me!" James agreed. "She's so different. I'm gonna go make sure she's still gonna do Quidditch. Sirius, you with me, mate?"

"So, our mum let us paint our rooms," Steph said, talking about her and her identical blond sister, Cali.

"Neat!" Lily said. "What colors?"

"Mine is really light pink, " Cali said. "Steph's is striped with purples."

"You should have seen them, Lils," Dina said. "They look amazing!"

Before the girls could say anything else, there was a knock at the door, and James and Sirius came in.

"Can we talk in here, Lils?" James asked.

"Yeah, go ahead. What is it? Do you not like my new look?"

Sirius cut James off. "Trust me, Lils, _I_ like it, don't know about James-"

"Yeah, you look really good, Lils, but that's not exactly why I wanted to talk."

"Quidditch?" she asked.

James breathed a sigh of relief, and said, "Yeah, I was-"

"Did you hear that the Irish seeker hit another muggle house?" she asked.

"Yeah, I did, but that's still not exactly what I was going for. We were wondering if you were still going to play."

"Oh," she said. "I get it now."

"So are you?"

"Well, James, the thing is, I'm the lone girl on the team, and-"

"Are you going to play?" 

"-and I really want to be a bit more girly, and hang out with my friends, and-"

"Just answer the question, Lils!"

"-and I want to apply more toward schoolwork."

"So, that would be a no, then?" James said, angrily standing up.

Lily too stood up. "Correct, it would be a no. Do you have a problem with that?"

"Actually, yes! We talked about this on the train home last year. You said you'd play!"

"Interests change, and apparently so do people!" Lily yelled. "I thought my friends would understand!"

James turned to leave, "And I thought my friends kept their promises."

The door slammed shut and Lily sat back down.

Dina looked up, "Wow, you're lucky you're such good friends with them, Lily. They're both really cute!"

Lily looked down, shaking her head, "Well, Dina, I might have been able to hook you up, but I think I just lost two really good friends. So, I'm sorry, but you're out of luck."


	8. Books That Bite

Books That Bite Books That Bite

It was a couple weeks after term had started, and James, Sirius, Peter, and Remus were sitting on their beds in the dorm room.

Lying lazily on his bed, James said, "You know, I think the Gryffidnor team needs to get some revenge. Specifically on one Lily Evans."

Remus put down his book and said, "Come on, James! You can't blame her, she had perfectly acceptable reasons for quitting!"

"But that's just it, Remy! She quit!" Sirius interrupted.

Remus sighed and picked up his book. "Just don't do anything too drastic."

James smiled and pulled out a battered notebook. "I was thinking prank number 73."

"What's prank number 73?" Peter squeaked.

"Perfect for Lils!" Sirius said, eyes glinting. "Read our description, James."

"Right," he said. "Number 73 is 'Books That Bite.' We charm textbooks to bite the victims, or in this case, Lily's, hands while she's in class. We charm them to basically attack her while she's in her dorm. Do we have the spell, Remy?"

Remus closed his eyes slowly and said, "James, my name is 'Remus.' And yes, we've got the spell."

The next day, the four boys filed into Transfiguration class, eyes aglow with excitement.

As the other three went to their seats, Remus stopped next to Lily, where he quickly uttered the spell over Lily's book.

"Hello, Remus," Lily said. "How are you?"

"Hey, Lily. I'm good. Just wanted to check up on you and make sure you're doing okay. I haven't been able to talk to you much lately."

"Oh," she said. "Yeah, I'm doing okay, thanks for asking. I'll see you later, then."

As Remus sat down, he said, "I still don't think we should be doing this."

Soon after that, McGonagall started to teach, asking students to take out their textbooks.

About fifteen minutes into the lesson, Lily cried out.

"Miss Evans?" McGonagall asked. "Is there something wrong?"

"Oh, uh, no Professor. It's just that…um, never mind, I think it was just a bad paper cut."

"Alright then," McGonagall said. "If I may continue…"

Several minutes later, Lily cried out again.

"Miss Evans?" McGonagall said, raising her eyebrows.

"I'm sorry, Professor. It happened again, it's just, and I think it was a book bite."

As the class snickered, McGonagall said, "A book bite, Miss Evans?"

"Yes, I think so. I know it sounds odd, but I just can't come up with any other explanation. In fact, I can almost see teeth marks. I'm sorry Professor."

"That's alright, Miss Evans. It just so happens that we're done with our books for today. Onto notes, and homework…"

That night, Lily was up in her dorm room with Cali, trying to do the Transfiguration homework.

She bit the end of her quill and said, "Ugh, I couldn't pay attention today!"

Cali asked, "Honestly, Lily? A book bite?"

"Yes! I know, it sounds really weird, but- AHHHHHHH!!"

The book that had previously bit her lifted into the air and started flapping around Lily, occasionally going in for a hard hit.

"Lily!" yelled Cali. "Try to take cover!"

But even as she said this, every other book in the room started to attack Lily.

It didn't take long for both girls to start screaming. A few minutes after the screaming started, the books dropped .

"Okay," Lily said, picking up books. "They are in trouble."

"Who?" Cali asked.

Lily pushed he disheveled hair out of her face and walked to the door. "Potter, that's who."

A few minutes later found a very angry and bruised Lily Evans standing in front of a laughing James Potter.

"You!" she spat out. "You almost got me in trouble in Transfiguration! You bruised every inch of me! And why? Just because I quit playing Quidditch! You mark my words, I will get you back for this!"

James calmly met Lily's furious glare and said, "I doubt it."

"Ugh!" Lily cried, storming back up to her dormitory.

James watched her until she slammed the door and smiled, walking up to his own dorm.

Once again, three of the four boys were sitting on their beds, waiting for James.

He came in with a triumphant smile, and flopped onto his bed.

"Oh, you should have seen her! Her face was just about as red as her hair, and boy, was she angry!"

"How long did you let it go?" Sirius asked, almost bouncing on the edge of his bed.

"Just the one book for a few minutes, then all the books until they were screaming for about five minutes."

"They?" Remus asked.

"Yeah," James said. "I think Cali was up there, too."

"Oops," Sirius said, unemotionally. "You got what you deserved, Evans!"

"Revenge is sweet! That's for Quidditch!" James added.

Peter added a pathetic, "Ha, Lily!"

As Remus got up to turn out the lights, he said, "I still don't think you should have done that."


	9. When Inkpots Attack

When Inkpots Attack When Inkpots Attack

It had been several weeks since the attacking book incident. It was about 11:00 at night, and the common room was empty, except for James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter, who were getting ready to plan their next prank on Lily.

Lily had heard voices from the common room, as she was getting ready for bed. Because of her year spent with the future Marauders, her curiosity got the better of her, and she crept down to the door to the common room.

She heard her name said by James, and quietly sat down against the wall to listen.

"Since number 73 went so well," she heard James say, "I was thinking of trying number 74."

"Excellent!" Sirius said. "Another perfect one!"

"What is it?" Peter asked, to several groans.

Lily heard the rustling of papers, and then James said, "Prank number 74 is 'When Inkpots Attack.' The basics of it are charming inkpots to tip up and squirt ink on whoever's using them. The more advanced form is actually making the inkpot blow up on the user."

Lily took that in and thought to herself, '_How do they come up with stuff like that?'_

Sirius started to talk, "What we're going to do is the first charm tomorrow, ironically in Charms class, and the second when Lily does her homework tomorrow night. Do we have the charm? Excellent! I'm off to bed, then."

Lily heard four pairs of footsteps disappear up the stairs, and headed up to her own bed, figuring out how to make the plan backfire.

As she found her solution, she smiled and fell asleep.

The next day, the boys entered Charms, again with faces aglow.

The glow soon faded as Professor Flitwick (by Lily's suggestion) said, "Today we're writing group essays on the Unlocking Charm, _Alohamora. _I'll be assigning groups…lets see. Black, Evans, and Potter. Lupin, Pettigrew, and Kane…"

James and Sirius moved over to where Lily was sitting, excited to be closer to her when she was inked.

Once again, their smiles faded as they saw that Lily had a bandage on her right hand, meaning that she couldn't write.

James and Sirius kept trading glances with each other and Lily, until Flitwick came over and looked at their blank parchment.

"Why is there nothing on your parchment?" he asked.

"I can't write, Sir," Lily said. "I've been telling them to write at least a title so we can start the actual essay."

James looked up and asked, "Uh, Professor? Can I go get my own ink?"

"Is there anything wrong with your ink, Miss Evans?"

"No, Sir," she answered. "It's brand new."

"Then, no, Mr. Potter, you will use this ink."

But, Professor-" Sirius began.

"You will use this ink unless you really, really want a detention. Now, please, start working."

"Write 'Alohamora' at the top of the page, please," Lily instructed.

Shaking his head, James unsealed the inkpot and stuck his quill into it.

Right after he finished writing, the inkpot levitated until it was about level with James' eyes, and sat there for a second.

James covered his eyes and ducked his head just as emerald ink was squirted all over him.

He took ink-covered hands away from his partially ink-covered face, and pushed his sopping hair back.

By this point, the whole class was staring at James, and Flitwick had come over.

"What is the meaning of this?"

"Don't know, Sir," James said, spitting out a mouthful of ink.

"Miss Evans, it was your ink, did you know anything about it?"

"No, Sir," she said, motioning to the wax seal on the table. "Like I said, it was brand new, you even saw it with the seal on."

"I did, indeed. Well, anyone else who didn't finish their group essay now has to write his or her own. If your essay is finished, you have no homework. Mr. Potter, I suggest you take a shower to remove the green. Class dismissed."

Later that night, Lily was getting her homework ready for the next part of her plan, very pleased with how the first part had gone.

She had told Cali to go get James' owl (the snowy owl named Gidweh.)

The owl was to fly to the common room window with a package for James meant to distract him and his friends.

Lily was now in the common room, positioned fairly close to the boys' table.

As the owl flew to the window and the boys all went to receive it, Lily switched her inkpot with one of the boys'.

She was back in her seat as Sirius dipped his quill into the replaced ink.

In a bright flash of light, Sirius was covered in blue ink from head to foot.

By that time, Lily had already slipped upstairs.

James opened the empty package and read the attached letter.

'_You really shouldn't plan your pranks in the common room anymore. As you can see, I can get back at you, Mr. _I doubt it._ Just because I quit Quidditch, I'm evidently not a lost case. Good luck getting the ink out or your hair and robes!'_

Once again, the four boys were in their dormitory. This time, James' and Sirius' hair was slightly tinted and wet.

"Okay," Sirius said. "So that didn't work. I think I still have some ink in my ears."

"You definitely still have it in your hair," Peter said.

"Stuff it!" Sirius growled.

"So, we obviously need to back off of Evans," James said.

"I told you pranking her wasn't a good idea," Remus reminded them.

"Wait, James, you said you got a letter from her? I thought she hurt her hand," Peter said.

"Come one, Pete! Get with it!" Sirius said. "She staged the whole thing, even the partner assignment! We should definitely lay off Evans."

With that, their 'meeting' broke off and the boys went off to bed.


	10. Civil Conversations Or Not

CHAPTER 10: CIVIL CONVERSATION… CHAPTER 10: CIVIL CONVERSATION….OR NOT

Almost a month after the inkpot disaster, Lily was in the trophy room during her free period.

She heard footsteps and turned to see the one person she wanted to see the least: James Potter.

"Great," she said. "It's you."

"Same could be said of you."

"Thanks. Hey, do you, um, still have green in your hair?"

"No," he said, putting his hand up to his hair. "Thanks for asking, though. You know, this is almost going well."

"Yeah, it is. But, coming from a pranking prat though, that's not saying much, is it?"

"Hey now!" James said, offended. "I'm not that bad, and if you want to get technical, it's your fault that we're acting like prats."

"How is it possibly my fault?" Lily demanded, outraged.

"One, single, little, word, Lils. Quidditch!"

"You can't possibly be angry because of that!" Lily said.

"Oh, you're right – wait, never mind! I am angry at you because of that! Why'd you quit, Lils?"

She sighed and sat down against a wall, saying, "You'll probably still act like a jerk. Maybe you'll feel bad for me, but Sirius will go and convince you to continue _seeking revenge_."

"Come on, Lils. Please tell me."

"Fine," she spat out. "There were no other girls on the team! I wanted to work on schoolwork more! And honestly, at this point, I'm glad I quit!"

Momentarily, James looked stunned by the viciousness in Lily's voice. Then he bounced back, saying, "Yeah? Well, I'm glad you quit, too!"

"Why's that, because it give you an excuse to prank me?"

"As a matter of fact, that's exactly why!"

The two of them continued to yell at each other, their faces steadily getting redder.

About five minutes later, Sirius poked his head through the door and said, "Is there an issue, guys?"

"Go away!" Lily and James both snarled, as Sirius immediately withdrew his head.

"So, I'm being pranked by a bunch of juvenile boys, boys who _used _to be my friends, all because I quit Quidditch?"

"Juvenile might be taking it a bit too far, Evans. And you returned the pranks to us, so are you a juvenile girl?" James asked, maliciously.

Lily blinked at James' calling her Evans. "I, Potter, am by no means comparable to you, so therefore, I am by no means juvenile."

She laughed. "You must be incredibly stupid if you let a good friend get away from you because she pursued her own interests."

James hesitated, and said, "You must be stupid if you think I care."

Glaring at James, Lily picked up her bag and stormed out of the room pass Sirius and up to her dorm room.

Lily slammed the door to her dorm room and threw herself onto her bed.

Cali looked up from her book and said, "Hey Lils, can you help me- Lily? What's wrong? What happened?"

Lily just muttered into her pillow.

"Lils," Cali said. "Lils, come one, talk to me, not the pillow. What happened?"

Lily rolled over and said, "Just had an argument with Potter. There's no way he'll ever be my friend again. I'm just, I don't know, disappointed. I lost such good friends forever."

About five minutes after Lily left the trophy room, James did too, ignoring Sirius as he passed him.

Eventually, Sirius grabbed James by the shoulder and spun him around.

"What is wrong with you, mate?" Sirius asked. "You're ignoring me!"

James shrugged Sirius off and said, "I'm an idiot. There's no way that she'll ever want anything to do with me again."

"You like her, James?" Sirius asked.

"No, but I just lost us both a really good friend."


	11. Parting Ways

CHAPTER 11 CHAPTER 11

"Come on, Lily! All the carriages are gonna be gone!"

Lily hurtled down the stairs to the common room, hair flying, and trunk and owl cage in hand.

Cali, Dina, Steph, and Lily headed to the front lawn as fast as they could. Just as Lily was about to climb into a carriage, she was plowed over by two dark haired boys.

Scowling, Lily gathered her stuff and climbed into the last carriage with her friends.

With only a few seconds to go, the girls claimed the last empty compartment and collapsed as the train pulled away from the station.

"You've got dirt all over you, Lils," Dina said. "Who pushed you? We couldn't see."

Lily scowled and brushed dirt off her robes. "Three guesses."

"Oh, it wasn't James, was it?"

The door slid open and James answered for himself. "How many other good-looking, black haired, third years are there?"

Lily's face hardened. "If you came to say something worthwhile, Potter, say it and leave. If not, just leave."

Sirius, who had entered with James, laughed and said, "Oh, Evans seems to be angry today, mate."

Lily stood up, saying, "A person is typically angry if they get pushed to the ground. Now leave!"

With that, she pushed them out the door, shut it, pulled the shade down, and magically locked it.

Her friends looked at her warily, "Lils, are you okay? You're sure you don't mind losing them as friends?"

"Of course I don't mind! They blew me off for Quidditch! They attacked Cali and I with books that they charmed! They were going to dump inkpots over my head! They pushed me into the dirt! Of course I don't mind!"

"Lets get something from the trolley," Cali said, eager to change the subject.

James and Sirius had just gotten back from their visit with the girls.

"How'd it go?" squeaked Peter.

"As expected," Sirius said.

Remus raised his eyebrows and asked, "Did you _think_ it would go well?"

"Well," James said. "I was gonna apologize for knocking her down…okay fine. I wasn't gonna apologize."

"James, mate, you can't hold a grudge against her because she stopped playing Quidditch. If Sirius quit would you hold a grudge against him?"

"I won't quit!"

"You'll quit interrupting me!" Remus said. "You _cannot_ hate her because of that!"

"That's not all," James argued. "She pranked us! Made our prank backfire!"

"Bad excuse, mate. And her prank was pretty amazing," Remus said, laughing.

"Hey!" James said. "You weren't the one with ink all over your face!"

"You weren't the one with ink _all_ over you!" Sirius exclaimed.

James laughed. "You're right, Remy! It was a good prank on a good prank!"

After an otherwise uneventful ride, the Hogwarts Express pulled to a stop at Platform 9¾.

Lily, now in Muggle clothing, grabbed her trunk and owl cage and loaded them onto the nearest trolley.

She said goodbye to her friends and looked for her mum. As she found her, Lily began the cross-platform trip.

Little did she know that James Potter was doing the same thing.

They crashed. It was actually very extravagant; involving two falling kids avoiding falling trunks and trolleys, and trying to catch occupied owl cages.

As Mrs. Potter and Mrs. Evans rushed to help their children, Lily and James silently picked up their things and stood next to their respective mothers, glaring at one another.

"Jamie! Are you okay, honey?" cried Mrs. Potter.

Mrs. Evans, at the same time, cried, "Lily, darling, what happened? Are you alright?"

That led to Lily and James saying, simultaneously, "I'm fine, mum. Leave it."

They deepened their glares and turned away from each other.

"Lily, did you apologize to…?" her mum asked.

"No."

"Lily," warned Mrs. Evans.

If possible, her glare deepened yet again. She reluctantly muttered, "Sorry Potter."

"James?" Mrs. Potter asked. "Did _you _apologize?"

"Do I have to?" he whined.

"Of course. I'm waiting, James."

"Fine," he huffed. "Sorry Evans."

As their children refused to face each other, both mothers traded sincere apologies.

With one final glare, Lily Evans and James Potter parted after their horrible third year.

END YEAR THREE 


	12. Revenge on the Boys

START YEAR FOUR

**START YEAR FOUR**

**CHAPTER 12**

"Bye mum, love you!" James said, just about to pass onto the platform.

"You write home, James!"

"Sure, mum!" With a final wave, he entered into his fourth year at Hogwarts.

Almost instantly, Sirius was there.

"Thank God, you're here, mate! My mum spent the last twenty minutes crooning over 'poor little Regulus.' I had no excuse to get away!"

"I feel for you, mate," James said. Let's go get a compartment."

They dumped their stuff in their normal compartment and look out of the window.

They were looking for Remus and Peter, but found Snape instead.

"A leg-locker coupled with a Bat-Bogey?" James asked.

Sirius nodded. "Lets do it."

Meanwhile, Lily was sitting with Cali, Dina, and Steph, talking about their summers.

"Oh, Lils, it was amazing!" Steph said. "Our mum took us to the U.S.! We were there for a month and a half!"

"Oh!" gasped Dina. "Where did you go?"

Cali's eyes lit up. "We went to loads of places! Washington D.C., New York City, Miami, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Chicago, and Boston!"

Lily gasped as well. "Oh, I bet that was amazing! Did you take pictures?"

Cali laughed. "Of course! What about you, Dina?"

"I stayed home, mainly. Except for when we went to see my cousins for a weekend in Italy. We were home for the most part, my sister and brother-in-law were here from Egypt. What about you, Lils?"

"Oh, my mum and dad wanted to see some Quidditch, so we went to three games. They really enjoyed it!"

"What games?"

"Pride of Portree versus the Wasps, the Tornados, and the Harpies."

The compartment door slammed open and a livid James Potter stepped through the door.

"Oh, so you're still into Quidditch, Evans?"

The happiness was sucked from the compartment as Lily coolly said, "I don't recall ever saying I didn't like it, Potter."

"Oh, so it's your team that you don't like. That makes me feel so much better."

"Well," Lily said. "I never really didn't like the Gryffindor team, although it is beginning to look that way."

"Lily," begged Cali. "Back down, please, back down."

Lily shrugged her friend off and said, "If you're thick enough to not grasp my reasoning for quitting, Potter, I have no reason to continue talking to you. Wouldn't want to get you confused or anything."

Keep it up, Evans, and you'll see what I can do to people who get me angry. I already got Snape, you wanna be next?"

"Oh," Lily smiled. "That was you? In that case, I'll shut up and just push you out the door. Bye, Potter."

As James left, Lily settled down for the rest of the ride to Hogwarts.

Students piled off the train as soon as it came to a halt in Hogsmeade Station.

Lily, Cali, Steph, and Dina were almost five feet away from an empty carriage when it was taken by four boys who ran in front of them.

Glowering, Lily led her friends to another carriage, and after it stopped, the girls walked past the boys and through the front doors.

"Hello, girls. Welcome back," McGonagall said as they passed her.

Lily stopped for a few seconds to talk to her Head of House, and then joined her friends in the Great Hall.

Several minutes later when James and Sirius finally made it to the door, McGonagall said, "Welcome back, boys. Potter, Black, you've got detention tomorrow at six for jinxing Mr. Snape."

James and Sirius, the smiles now wiped off their faces, slumped into the Great Hall, now with the burden of a detention heavy upon them.

Lily Evans looked down the table and saw two downcast faces and smiled to herself. She had gotten revenge.


	13. Fun Detention?

CHAPTER 13 CHAPTER 13

James and Sirius were walking to their detention, feet shuffling.

"You know, mate, this might be the lowest we'll get, detention before we even got inside the school," Sirius said.

"Yea, you could easily be right. But, instead of low, it could be a high point for any future do-gooders like us, and in that case, it'll be a hard to beat record."

"Wonder if Snape was the blabbermouth? Did anyone else know it was us?" Sirius asked.

"No. Aw, never mind, I told Evans."

"_You told Evans?" _Sirius asked, astounded.

"Well, I threatened her. I told her what would happen if she made me mad, and told her what we did to Snape."

"Smart, mate. Real smart."

By that time, they had arrived late at their detention.

"Good evening, Black, Potter," McGonagall said from her desk. "You're late, and no, Potter, I don't even _want_ to hear it. I assume you know why you're here?"

"Because Evans is a blabbermouth?" James asked.

"No."

Sirius looked up. "Eh, it wouldn't be because we jinxed Snivellus, would it, Professor?"

"That would be exactly it, Black. Now, you will be alphabetizing Mr. Filch's behavioral records, which you might actually find interesting. Off you go."

So James and Sirius soon found themselves in Filch's office, looking though old behavioral records.

"Hey, look! Our first prank!"

"Here's when we tried to drown Snivellus!"

"And when we stuck Malfoy to the dungeon walls!"

"When we inflated Bellatrix!"

Filch came by carrying a whip. "Hey! You two are supposed to be alphabetizing, not having fun!"

"Well, it's amazing how many times you've got 'Black' near the beginning of these files," Sirius said.

"Shut up, boy, and get back to work!"

Eagerly, they resumed looking at their past records.

"Some of these are like 200 years old! Nice to know that other kids who have to do this will get to read about us!" James said. "Hey, you're still gonna play this year right?"

"After how you turned on Evans? Um, yea, of course I'm gonna play!"

"Did I mention she quit, but still went to three matches over the summer?"

"Only about a hundred times, mate. So," Sirius said, trying to change the subject, "how long do you reckon it'll be until you're team captain?"

James' face lit up. "Well, Downs is a 7th year now, so he'll obviously be leaving next year. I'm gonna say that'll I'll get captain then. And, I'm gonna have hard tryouts for everyone!"

"What? You're kidding! _I'm_ gonna have to try out to be on _your_ team?"

"No, you won't. I was kidding."

Sirius glared at his laughing friend. "Not nice, mate."

Filch shuffled over again. "If you can't work over the A-F section, you can move onto the G-L one, now."

The two boys switched filing cabinets, and were soon looking at the multiple records under 'Lupin, Remus.'

"Aw, Remy's first prank! When was it, three months into first year?"

"His first revenge based prank! Never quite knew why he wanted revenge."

"His first prank that was completely his idea!"

After several minutes, Filch came over one more time, saying, "Alright, move onto M-Q. No, don't, you're Potter, half of that is you. Go back to McGonagall, tell her you're done. Go!"

James and Sirius scurried back to McGonagall's office.

"You're back already?" she asked, eyebrows raised.

"Yeah, Filch says we're done," Sirius said.

"You went through all of those records?"

"We got through 'Lu' Professor," James said.

McGonagall sighed. "As expected. Did you learn your lesson, boys?"

"Yes."

"Also as expected. You may go."

"How was it? You actually look sort of amused," Remus said, as his friends entered the dorm room.

"We had to alphabetize behavioral records," Sirius said.

"Yeah, Filch stopped us at 'Lu,'" James said, smiling at Remus.

"There can't be that many records under my name," he protested.

"Ah, but there is a large number, my friend," Sirius said. "Nothing to rival 'Bl, S,' but a good amount none the less."

Remus threw a pillow at Sirius, saying, "Fine, I get it, you've corrupted me. Even so, I'd like to sleep. So, Sirius, shut up!"

With that, all discussion of the first day detention ceased, and gradually all four boys fell asleep.


	14. Advanced Ambitions

CHAPTER 14 CHAPTER 14

Several weeks later, the four boys were sitting in their dorm, sipping butterbeer that they had taken from the kitchens.

While Remus was talking about an essay for who knows what class, James looked at Sirius, who nodded.

After a deep breath, James said, "Remus, we know your secret."

The effects were instantaneous; a confused Peter looked at a terrified Remus, who had just spat out a mouthful of butterbeer.

"_What?_" Remus asked, voice shaking a bit.

"We," James said, "That is to say, Sirius and I, know your secret. We know that you're-"

He was cut off as Remus slapped a hand over James' mouth.

"How?" Remus asked quietly. "How do you know? How do you know that you're right?"

Sirius picked up. "Well, obviously you have a secret, mate. And everything makes perfect sense. It's kind of like the evidence was written in the stars…or moon."

Remus began to shake uncontrollably. "Okay, you know. You know that I'm a…. a…. you know. What are you going to do? Quit being my friends? Turn me over to the entire school? Go on, tell me!"

"No," James said. "Remus, mate, you're our friend. We'd never turn you in. So you're not yourself one day a month, big deal. We want to help."

"Help with what?" Peter asked, still confused.

"Really?" Remus asked, looking at James and Sirius. He then laughed shakily and looked at Peter, saying, "Okay, Pete, I get sick once a month. Each month I get sick on the full moon. You _still_ don't get it? I'm a…a werewolf. Now how were you planning on helping?"

"We're going to stay with you when you transform," Sirius said.

"NO! I mean, thanks, but werewolves have a tendency to…to attack humans."

James smiled. "Hey, we're not done with our explanation! We're going to become Animgi. You won't attack animals that much, will you?"

"No…James, that's really advanced magic, and it's illegal…"

Sirius grinned, "We're really advanced! Or, James and I are, and since when has the word 'illegal' stopped us? We'll just do some research and figure out how to do this."

"Hey," Remus said, softly. "Thanks."

They had been spending an incredible amount of time in the library, gathering information on Animagi.

James was sitting on a table, reading from a book, "'Ordinary Transfiguration of a human into an animal shape results in the human having an animal brain, and thus being unable to remember what he or she was supposed to be doing. Retaining one's mental capacities while still taking on an animals form is a highly advanced form of Transfiguration and can go horribly wrong. Consequently, those who can master this Transfiguration are quite rare in the wizarding world; they are referred to as Animagi. More precisely, an Animagus is a witch or wizard who has the ability to Transfigure herself/himself into an animal at will while retaining his/her mental powers, such as the ability to think like a human.'"

"Well, we knew that, but thanks anyway, James," Sirius said.

"Hey! I'm just reading what Remy told me to read! Speaking of that, Remus, read what you found."

"Fine," Remus sighed. "Don't know how much good it'll do me because of…"

"Your furry little problem?" Sirius asked.

Remus smiled. "Yeah, because of that. Anyway, 'The Animagus Transfiguration can be performed wordlessly. It is possibly for another witch or wizard who is sufficiently knowledgeable to force an Animagus to Transfigure from animal shape back into human.' Okay, Sirius, you can go now."

"'An Animagus' physical condition as an animal reflects his or her physical condition as a human. An Animagus retains his or her clothing, spectacles, and so on throughout the transformation, disappearing when the Animagus is in animal shape, but reappearing when human shape is resumed.' Well, that's reassuring! And James, mate, you'll be able to see when you get back to your human form, because we all know how you're blind."

"Okay, then!" James cut in. "Peter, read your bit then."

"'An Animagus appears to have some ability to communicate with true animals, however it is not known whether an Animagus must be in Animagus form to do so.'"

The other three boys just looked at Peter, saying, "That's _all_ you found?"

"Yeah," Peter squeaked. "I think James has more though."

"I do," James said. "'The Improper Use of Magic office maintains a register of all known Animagi. This register keeps a record of, for each known Animagi: the kind of animal the Animagus transforms into, and distinguishing markings. There are penalties for being an Animagus and failing to register with the Improper Use of Magic office. It is not known precisely what the legal consequences are for an unregistered Animagus, but they are apparently rather severe.'"

Remus looked up. "I think this might just work."

"Me too," James said, half paying attention while staring at the retreating back of Lily Evans. "I think I like her."

The boys followed James' gaze and Sirius said, "What do you mean you like her? James, we hate her!"

"No, I don't hate her. I really think I like her. A lot."

"James," Sirius pleaded. "She quit the team! You hate her! Come back to us, mate!"

"No. I like her. I like Lily Evans."


	15. Rejected

CHAPTER 15 CHAPTER 15

Once again, the four boys were in their dorm room. Remus was reading, Sirius was chewing on a quill, and Peter was scratching his head.

James, on the other hand, was lying on his bed, thinking of Lily.

All of a sudden, he sat up, and said, "You know what? I'm going to ask her out! I'm going to ask Lily to go out with me!"

"James, mate, we talked about this," Sirius said. "Evans isn't going to go out with you! You're crazy to even _think_ that she'd say yes. Why ask her, James?"

"She's smart, athletic, beautiful, fun, she's just amazing, Sirius!"

"And why'd she possibly go out with you?"

"I, I really don't know. I just hope she will." 

He crossed to the window and looked out, face brightening. "She's out by the lake! Are any of you coming, or am I going to have to ask her out by myself?"

Sirius stood up, saying, "I'll come, but I'm definitely not gonna ask her out."

"Ha," James said flatly, before heading out the door.

"Hey, Lils?" Cali said.

"Yea?"

"Um, James and Sirius are outside."

"So? No offense, Cal, but I don't need a play by play," Lily said.

"They're heading this way."

In one motion, Lily slammed her book shut, shoved it into her bag, and stormed off, ignoring the cries of her name by her friends and the boys.

"Lily! Lils, wait! Come back!"

"Evans! Hey, Evans, wait up"

She kept walking until a gentle, but firm, hand led her to a rock to sit.

After seeing that it was James, Lily made a move to get up, and was gently pushed back down.

"What?" she demanded, green eyes gleaming.

"Just hear me out before you leave-"

"What do you want?" she asked again.

James took a deep breath and said, "Evans, will you go out with me?"

Lily froze, looking between James and Sirius, both of whom were grinning.

"You're go to be joking," she said, causing James' face to fall.

"No, I-"

"No, save it, Potter. I know you aren't sincere-"

"But, I-"

"You just want to be friendly, and then all of a sudden, you'll pull something rude and inconsiderate!"

"But, Evans…"

"I won't go out with you, Potter. Excuse me."

As she walked off, Cali, Dina, and Steph ran to catch up, casting curious looks at James and Sirius.

"Wow, tough luck, mate," Sirius said. "Hate to say it, but I kind of told you… I'm gonna shut up now."

Dejectedly, James walked past Sirius and up to his dorm.

"Hey, Lils?" Steph asked. "What just happened?"

"Potter just got a huge wake up call."

Dina squealed. "Oh! James Potter just asked you out!"

Lily nodded. "And I just turned him down."

Her friends were dumbfounded. Finally, Cali said, "You turned down James Potter, _the_ hottest boy in school? Why?"

Lily scowled. "Just because he's hot, which he's not by the way, doesn't mean he's a saint on the inside. Have you _seen _what he's done to me?"

"He was trying to redeem himself and ask you out by being nice."

"No," Lily said. "He was trying to use me. If I said yes, he'd be nice for a bit, and then do something stupid like dump be just to complete the ultimate prank."

"Did you hear him out, Lils?" Cali asked.

"Well, no, but-"

"Lily, we've heard it already, But, I think he might have been for real."

"But why?"

Dina scoffed. "Lils, you're beautiful, smart, fun, athletic, basically everything a guy could want. The two of you obviously had fun during Quidditch-"

"Yea, but that was two years ago, Din. I've changed and so have they. I will not go out with Potter! End of discussion, guys."

With that, Lily stormed off into the bathroom to get ready for bed, making sure the conversation stopped.

Meanwhile, the boys were in their dorm, James sulking on his bed.

"I take it that she said no, then?" Remus asked.

"What do you think?" James barked. "Sorry, Remy, but yea, she did say no. But, she thought I was joking. She thought I was gonna be nice for awhile, and then dump her, as a prank."

"You can't blame her much," Remus said.

"I know, but it just drives me crazy that she said no because she doesn't trust me! God, why do I want to ask her out again if she doesn't trust me?"

"Wait, you're gonna try again? Mate, I don't think that'll help at all. I doubt she'll ever say yes. You haven't been that great to her," Remus said.

"Way to, like, I don't know, encourage me, Remy."

"Sorry, James. Maybe if you keep asking she'll say yes eventually."

"Okay, I think I'll ask her again at Kings Cross. Sound good, Remy?"

Remus closed his eyes and winced at the nickname. "Sure, James, sounds good. Good night."


	16. If at First You Don't Succeed

CHAPTER 16 CHAPTER 16

Several months had passed since James asked Lily out, and those months passed without any incidents between them. Sure, there was a little bit of Snape attacking, but there were no other issues.

James and his friends were about to get into a carriage when James said, "Hold on, guys!"

He ran up the path a bit to Lily, and with his hand in his hair, said, "Hey, Evans, there's an empty carriage there if you want it."

"I don't. I'm riding with my friends."

Annoyed, James sulked back to the carriage, and moodily sat through the ride to Hogsmeade Station.

On the train, Cali asked, "Lils, what held you up?" 

She grimaced. "Roadblock."

"In the form of?"

"Potter."

Dina perked up, saying, "Oh! What did he say this time?"

"He offered me an empty carriage. I said no. That's all."

Steph groaned. "And you still think he wants to prank you?"

"Well, yeah. Hey! Did I mention that Petunia's gonna pick me up today?"

"Petunia?" asked Cali. "The sister who hates you with a passion? Why's she possibly coming to get you?"

"She didn't offer, don't worry. My mum and dad are going to be visiting my grandmum today, and since I can't Apparate, they told Petunia to drive me home."

Dina laughed. "That'll be a fun car ride."

"Definitely. Because Petunia absolutely _loves_ my owl, Amor, and can't wait to talk to me about school!"

The girls laughed. "And when you get home?"

Lily smiled bitterly. "I'll be kicked out of the car and take refuge in my room until mum and dad get home. Yeah, so I hope that the drive home will be as quiet as I think it will be."

Lily had succeeded in rerouting the conversation, and eventually, the girls resorted to playing chess until they reached the station.

About half an hour before the Hogwarts Express pulled into Kings Cross, James sat up on the train bench and said, "I'm gonna ask her out again."

"Who, Evans?"

James nodded.

James, mate," Sirius said. "Why _her_?"

Remus sighed, saying, "Don't _even_ go there, either of you. James, what makes so think she'll say yes this time?"

"Last time she thought it was a joke, and that I'd end up pranking her. It's been months, I haven't done anything, and I'm going to ask her again, letting her know it's not a joke."

There was a pregnant pause, and then Remus said, "Yeah, that kind of makes sense."

And by that time, they had come to a stop at Platform 9 ¾.

After having said her goodbyes, Lily was struggling to get her trunk off the train and onto a trolley.

With a sigh, she stopped with the trunk and moved onto getting Amor's cage secured to the trolley.

In doing so, she spotted her sister standing awkwardly across the station, and turned back to see her trunk on the trolley, James Potter leaning against it.

She groaned. "What do you want, Potter?"

He smirked, saying, "You can still have me even though you quit Quidditch. Go out with me, Evans?"

Lily smiled sweetly, "Sure, because girls typically go out with people who've been jerks to them. Again, it's a no, Potter."

"Aw, what'd I ever do to you, Evans?"

She shook her head. "My God, I hope that was rhetorical. It _wasn't_? Let's see, you severed our friendship with stupid reasoning. You attacked me with books, _tried_ to dump ink all over me, and you got into a huge row with me! So, all in all, you were a jerk to me! That's why I won't go out with you."

"Are you sure?" James said, almost pleading.

"I'm sure," Lily said. "Now, it'd be really nice if you could get off my trunk. My sister's waiting for me."

So James sadly watched Lily head to her sister, and away from him for the summer.

Lily was surprised when her sister talked almost immediately after Lily got into the car.

"So, I saw you with a boy. Who is he, your boyfriend?" Petunia asked.

Lily laughed a little. "Yeah, he wishes. But no, we're not going out, although you saw him asking me out and getting rejected."

"Oh, but Lily, he's really cute. You should go out with him. Wait, what's his name?"

"He may be cute, at least that's what _most_ people think, but he's a jerk. I really doubt that I'll ever go out with James Potter. And why are you asking me about my school, 'Tunia?"

"Oh, I…" she sputtered, creating the quiet that stayed with them for the rest of the ride home.

END YEAR FOUR 


	17. Possible Change of Heart

START YEAR FIVE

**START YEAR FIVE**

CHAPTER 17

"Bye, mum," Lily said, standing against her trolley. "I know, I'll write home lots. Love you!"

With a wave, she slipped through the barrier and appeared on Platform 9 ¾.

She sighed, and, feeling the badge in her pocket, she heading to the front of the train.

When she reached the door marked GRYFFINDOR 5TH YEAR PREFECTS, she pushed it open to have her trunk taken almost immediately by Remus, who hoisted it into the luggage rack.

"Remus!" Lily cried, giving him a friendly hug. "So glad to see that you're the Prefect.

James, who was sitting with Sirius and Peter out of Lily's view, moaned a bit and pulled a jealous face when she hugged his friend.

"How do you know the Prefect isn't me or Sirius?" James asked, earning himself a very cold look.

"Because Remus is wearing the badge."

"How do you know I didn't' let him borrow my badge so that he'd feel special?"

"Because no sane person would ever make you a Prefect!" Lily yelled, frustrated. "Get out, this carriage is Prefect-only, and you don't seem to fit the mold. Remus, the meeting's going to start soon."

Lily and Remus, both in their school robes now, were walking up and down the train, completing their patrols.

"Hey, Lily?" Remus asked timidly.

"Yeah?"

"He really _does_ like you."

"Who?" Lily asked. "Potter?"

"Yea. Lily, you should give him a chance. He's changed-"

"I know, Remus. He's changed since our second year. He's not the nice, friendly person he was then."

Remus sighed. "True. But, Lils, he's not the same bullying, pranking idiot that he's been lately. He's changed, just give him a chance."

At the compartment where Lily's friends were in, Lily left Remus, saying, while shaking her head, "I guess I'll give him a chance. Thanks, Remus."

Remus got back to the compartment his friends were occupying in time to hear James say, "I think I'm going to lay off Evans this year."

Remus sat down, saying, "James, mate, I told her to give you a chance, and she said that she might. You aren't gonna back down when she finally agreed to consider, are you?"

"Yea, I am," James said, earning him looks of surprise and a few theatre gasps. "I know, I know. I get the feeling that Lily won't like it if I ask her out every time I see her. That at least will show her that I've changed."

"Will the random attacks on people who bug you stop too?" Remus asked.

James looked surprised. "I only 'attack' people who have the unfortune to be Slytherins, and people who ask Lily out. I can't guarantee that they'll stop."

"Then I can't guarantee that she'll deeply consider it."

James raised his hand for silence. "Chill, Remy. I'll give her a year of not getting asked out constantly, and we'll see what happens. Deal?"

"As close to one as I'm gonna make," Remus sighed. "Deal."

The second that Lily got into her compartment, Cali perked up and said, "Oh, Lily! Did you see James today?"

She sat down and said, "I had a good summer too, thanks, Cali. And yes, I saw Potter, in the Prefects compartment."

"Oh! Is he a Prefect?" Dina asked.

"Thank God, no. It's Remus," Lily said. "Where's my 'did he ask you out' interview?"

Steph gasped. "He _did_ ask you out! What did you say?"

"He didn't ask me out," Lily said, to the groans of her friends. "But, if he does…I might give him a chance. Might."

"What made you change your mind, Lils?" Cali asked, confused.

"See, I was talking to Remus while we were doing our rounds. He said that Potter really likes me, and isn't trying to trick me or anything. So I agreed to maybe give Potter a chance if he asks me again." 

"Good for you, Lily!" Dina said.

"But," Lily added, "If he continues attacking random people, I will not, I repeat, will not _ever_ go out with him. Now, if we could maybe talk about something _other_ than Potter?"


	18. Nicknames

CHAPTER 18 CHAPTER 18

At about eight thirty on the night of the second full moon of the school year, the four boys were sitting in their dorm, talking.

"Okay," Remus said. "At quarter to, the nurse is going to come and make me invisible to get me to where I stay the night. Um, James, what do you know about the Whomping Willow?"

James looked up from the Snitch he was playing with. "Just that it's an evil tree that was moved here the year we came. Oh."

Remus nodded. "The Willow hides the entrance to where I stay through my transformations. There's a passage that leads to the Shrieking Shack. The, uh, shrieks, I guess, are me."

Sirius laughed. "So, we've got to get through the demon tree? How do we do that?" 

"You know that big knot?" Remus asked as the others nodded. "Hit it with a fallen branch to freeze the tree. Then slip through the big hole in the roots that you'll see. I've got to go; I'll see you in the Shack. Bring your cloak, and don't worry, I won't change until about eleven or eleven thirty."

At nine thirty, James, Sirius, and Peter threw the invisibility cloak over themselves and

snuck down to the Willow.

James picked up a stick and poked the knot in the tree, and the three boys slid into a dark passage.

As they lifted a trap door, they entered a room that must have been nice at some point, but was now torn apart by teeth and claws.

"You made it," Remus said quietly from a decrepit couch.

"We can't miss seeing the mean side of you," Sirius said.

"Yeah, because I really enjoy this," Remus replied.

"Oh, sorry."

"It's okay, Sirius, but I nominate you to be the first to try Animagus form."

"And I nominate Pete," Sirius said with a smile. "Go ahead, Pete!"

Peter squeaked and, much to James and Sirius' amusement, backed up until he hit a dusty wall, where he then pulled a face of immense concentration for about ten minutes.

And then he was gone. His friends were confused for a few minutes, and then a laughing James pointed to a rat with a blondish spot on his head.

Sirius cracked up, and for a few minutes, just opened and closed his mouth, pointing at Peter.

Then Peter was back to normal, scowling a bit, saying, "Hey, Sirius, what's so funny?"

"You…you're a, a rat! A _rat_! It's perfect for you!"

"Well, I'd like to see what you end up as!"

Smugly, Sirius closed his eyes and concentrated. Seconds later, a big, shaggy, black dog stood in his place.

The dog barred its teeth and snapped at Peter, who said, "Jeesh, I get your point!"

Within seconds, Sirius was himself again, now egging James to try.

James closed his eyes and turned into a magnificent stag that kept the eyes of its human form. He sauntered around the room a bit, but ended up tripping over his hooves.

With a shake of his head, James was back in his human form, laughing with his friends.

"That," Sirius said, "was smooth, my friend."

"I know, but I'm the coolest looking of us all," James countered. "And have you tried walking on hooves with a huge thing on your head?"

"Prongs, mate," Sirius said. "You're a deer. Ever try walking on pads?"

"Prongs?" James smiled. "I am a stag, my dear Padfoot. What should we name Pete, Moony?"

Remus grinned weakly. "It's better than Remy, I guess. Well, his tail looks sorta like a worm. So, Wormtail?"

"Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs! I like it!" Sirius exclaimed.

"Well, that's nice, Paddie, but I'm probably going to change in a few minutes, if you guys wanted to get ready or anything."

The boys changed and helped Remus through his transformation, sneaking back up to the castle in the morning, a little beat up but ready for the next full moon.


	19. The Marauders

CHAPTER 19 CHAPTER 19

The boys were up in their dorm room, when Sirius suddenly said, "We should come up with a name for ourselves, boys. Any ideas?"

"What's the word for people who sneak around and prank people, Moony?" James asked.

With a defeated sigh, Remus closed his book and said, "Well, gee Prongs, I don't know. Pranksters, perhaps?"

"No. That's not it. Keep thinking."

"Trickster? Marauder? Juvenile?"

"That's it!" Sirius and James both yelled, causing Peter to jump a foot and Remus to fall off of his bed.

"Which one?" Remus asked bitterly from the floor. "Juvenile?"

James reached down to help Remus up, and said, "Nah, we're too smart to be juvies. Marauder! We are the Marauders!"

"Gather 'round, boys," Sirius said. "The very first official Marauder meeting is about to be called to order!"

"Is this really necessary, Padfoot?"

"Of course," Sirius said. "Are there any proposals for the first order of business?"

"We should start a ceremonial Marauder project," James mused. "Something that will last for a long time. Something that will be beneficial to us and whichever of our kids will get it. Something that people won't know we made."

"What about a map?" Remus suggested. "A map that shows where all the people and passages in the castle and grounds are. It could have a password that reveals the map and one that removes it."

"That, my dear Moony, is a wonderful idea!" James exclaimed.

"We knew we became your friends for a reason!" Sirius said.

Remus raised his eyebrows. "And that reason wasn't that we share the same room?"

"Let's go to the library," James said, causing all three of his friends to look at him in surprise.

"What?" he asked. "We need to figure out how to make this map.

For the next month and a half, the boys traced out all of the school onto a fresh piece of parchment, and then, using several very complex but semi-illegal spells, recorded the people in the castle and made the map disappear. During the making of the map, they all recorded their handwriting, as well.

Finally, they were ready to test their finished map.

"I hereby call this second official Marauder meeting to order," James said. "Please gather around the Map."

Sirius formally spread the map out between them, and said, "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."

Instantly, words spread across the page.

Messrs Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs

_Purveyors of Aids to Magical Mischief Makers _

_Are proud to present_

_THE MARAUDER'S MAP_

Those words faded into the map, and the boys pointed out the little dots that showed their names, James' hand lingering over the dot that said '_Lily Evans'_ for a moment.

"Mischief managed," Sirius said, while James was starring at Lily's dot, which caused James to send a very angry look at him.

Sirius laughed nervously. "Mate, it uh, worked. Um, forget about Evans, our Map worked!"

Remus, eager to prevent his friends from killing each other, said, "Hey, let's go celebrate in the Room of Requirements, or something. The Map worked! The Marauders are now officially in business!"

One by one, the boys snuck quietly out of the common room to celebrate their success.


	20. Studying

CHAPTER 20 CHAPTER 20

Lily, Cali, Dina, and Steph were sitting in the common room, trying to study for their O.W.L.s.

"Cal, will you quiz me?" Lily asked.

"On what?"

"Potions."

Cali groaned. "Lils, you're best in our year at Potions, except for that Snape kid. You don't need to study for that."

"Aw, Cali. Please," Lily begged.

Grudgingly, Cali agreed and got out her Potions notes. "Um, what does the Draught of Peace do? What happens if you add too much of the ingredients? What should your cauldron look like near the potion's end?"

Lily considered for a moment, and said, "It calms anxiety and soothes agitation. Too much of the ingredients can cause heavy or irreversible sleep, and light silver vapors should be present near the end."

Cali rolled her eyes. "You got them all, Lils. Anything else?"

"Ancient Runes, I guess. Here are my notes."

Cali quickly scanned the notes and asked, "What word means 'partnership' and what does 'eihwaz' mean?

After half a minute, Lily said, "Ehwaz is partnership, and, um, eihwaz means, um, defense!"

"Right. Could you help me study now, please? Thanks."

Meanwhile, the Marauders were sitting all over their dorm, attempting to study.

Sirius, who was rifling through his Care of Magical Creatures notes, said, "Hey, Prongs, here's a good question for you. What's a Snidget?"

Remus groaned as James' face lit up, while he answered the question. "It's an endangered bird that the Snitch is based off from. It's rated XXXX because the hunting penalties are huge…"

"Somebody stop him!" Sirius yelled, chucking a pillow at his friend. "Who's the prat who thought of asking Prongs that question?"

Remus rolled his eyes as Sirius climbed to hang upside down from his bed. "Probably the same person who thought of asking that one. What's the name of the Dog star, Pads?"

Sirius flung out his arms and screamed, "ME!" just before crashing to the ground, causing his friends to yell and run around the room.

"Okay, Cali," Lily quizzed. "Which charm wards off dementors and can be-"

_CRASH!_

Every single person in the common room jumped.

Lily narrowed her eyes and marched to the boys' fifth year dorm.

She threw open the door to see a mess of books, clothes, and boys.

James slid out from the bed he was hiding under, and while straightening his tie and ruffling his hair, said, "What can we do for you today, Evans?"

"Other people are trying to study!" Lily lectured. "We can't do that if loud noises continue to disrupt us! Is that blood? No, I don't want to know."

"It looks like this place was ransacked by a werewolf!" she said, missing the looks of horror that appeared on the boys' faces. "How can you study in here? Are you even trying? I'm taking twenty points from Gryffindor. I suggest you clean this place and start to study. Good bye, Remus."

She slammed the door, and James, who was staring at the spot where she was last, said, "Thanks for the visit, Evans."

Reluctantly, they did get to studying, however half-heartedly it was. However, they did still fall asleep in a very messy room.


	21. Snape Vs Werewolf

So, it's been quite a while since my last update, and I apologize for that. I'll try to get two up this week, maybe, and then go back to posting every Sunday. Again, sorry for the wait. Please read, review, and enjoy!

On the morning of the next full moon, Sirius and James rounded a corner and ran right into Severus Snape.

Sirius screamed a very fake scream and jumped into James' arms. James, who wasn't ready for that, dropped Sirius, and both Gryffindors proceeded to draw their wands.

"Peace, Potter. I need to talk to Black," Snape said.

"About what?" James asked, cautiously.

"I've got a message for him from his brother and cousin," Snape sneered.

Sirius groaned, and said, "Leave it, Prongs. I can handle it."

After James reluctantly left, Sirius turned on Snape. "What's the message?"

"There's no message," Snape said. "But, I do have a question for you. I'm not stupid, and I've noticed that Lupin leaves school a lot. I know that you know where he goes. Where's he go, Black?"

Sirius hesitated. "I can't tell you that."

"Can you tell me why he leaves?" Snape prodded.

"No, I definitely can't tell you that. But…I can tell you where he's going to be tonight. Go to the Whomping Willow, pick up a dead stick, and poke the big knot on the trunk. Then go through the tunnel, Remus will be at the end of it."

Snape grinned, nastily. "What time?"

Sirius grinned in perfect imitation of him. "11:30. If you'll excuse me, Snivellus."

Immediately after Sirius sat down in class, he was passed a note.

_What was that about, Padfoot?_

**It wasn't a big deal, mate.**

_What was the message?_

**There was no message. He asked about Moony.**

And you said… Nothing. Do pay attention, Mr. Potter!

That night, in the Shrieking Shack, Sirius kept looking at the partially shredded door.

"Padfoot, do you have a new found obsession with doors?" James asked, lazily.

"Wha? No, I'm, um, counting the scratches on the door."

"Um, okay?" Remus said. "How many are- oh no. Here we go."

A few seconds later, Remus and his friends were all transformed.

All of a sudden, Remus reeled around to face the slightly opened door, which revealed Snape.

James quickly changed back, drew his wand, and stunned both Remus and Snape. He changed back to Prongs, and carried Snape to the castle steps on his back.

In the Shack, and after a few minor healing charms, James turned on Sirius. "What were you thinking? You knew he'd come out here!"

"Prongs, mate, it's Snivellus!"

"He could have been killed!"

"It's Snivellus!" 

"You would have been considered a murderer! What a great thing to have to tell people: my best mate killed a kid at school!"

Sirius bowed his head. "Merlin, Prongs, I didn't think about it that way."

"You didn't think at all, Paddy," Remus groaned. "Now he knows about my furry little problem, and he might know about your being Animagi."

"No," James said. "We were out of view from where he was at. Maybe he hit his head when I Stunned him?"

"More likely than not, he knows about me," Remus said. "Sirius feels at least a little guilty, and he didn't get hurt. Just leave it. I'm gonna get some rest.


	22. Snape Dangling

I haven't really done a great job posting disclaimers with each chapter, because it's fanfiction, and I assume that anyone who reads this knows that. But, this chapter needs one. DISCLAIMER: This idea is NOT mine. It's JK Rowling's. This chapter comes primarily from Order of the Phoenix, from Snape's Worst Memory. I've changed it a bit – changing dialogue a little, but know that majority of this chapter comes straight from OOTP.

Lily woke up at 5:30 on the day of her last O.W.L., the Defense Against the Dark Arts, both written and practical.

She poured over her notes until her head hurt, and then went to breakfast with a book titled 'O.W.L.s for Dummies.'

Lily read at the breakfast table until she was hit in the head with a hash brown.

She marked her page and slowly looked up at James and Sirius, who were pointing at each other. With a glare, Lily walked out into the Entrance Hall to study until she was called in for her tests.

When she was done, Lily met up with Cali, Steph, and Dina, and they walked out to the lake, where they dangled their bare feet in the water.

"How'd you do with your Patronus, Lils?" Dina asked.

"I got just a wisp of mist," Lily said, disappointed.

Dina groaned. "Well, at least you got that much! I got nothing!"

"I'm sure you did fine, Din," Lily sympathized.

"No! I confused the Boggart and Patronus spells! I said _Riddikulus_! They didn't let me try again!"

Eager to change the subject, Steph said, "So, how'd you do on the written, then? I think I messed up that one on werewolves."

Meanwhile, the Marauders were finally leaving the Great Hall.

"Did you like question – what was it – ten, Moony?" Sirius asked.

"It was great," Remus said. "Fine signs that identify a werewolf."

"But, Moony, do you think you got them all?"

"Pretty sure. One: He's in my chair. Two: He's in my clothes. Three: He stole my name…"

All but Peter laughed as the boys made it to their favorite beech tree. James started to play with a stolen Snitch, Peter watched him, Remus read a book, and Sirius just sat there, acting bored.

A few minutes later, James nudged Sirius and nodded to the side.

"Excellent. _Snivellus_," Sirius said, looking over at Snape.

"Too right, mate," James said, before yelling, "All right, Snivellus?"

Snape's hand dug for his wand, which was flung from his grasp by James' shout of "_Expelliarmus!_"

Snape's attempts at getting his wand were foiled when he was sent flying by a jinx cast by Sirius.

The Marauders gathered around to mock Snape, who proceeded to say every swearword and hex he knew, but to no avail.

James' eyes hardened. "Wash out that mouth! _Scourgify_!"

Just as Snape began to choke on the bubbles coming from his mouth, Lily made her way over, and said, "Leave him ALONE!"

James spun around, hand in his hair, and replied, "All right, Evans?"

Lily looked at him with scorn, and repeated, "Leave him alone. What's he ever done to you?"

"Well, he's – he's here, if you know what I mean."

Lily's look of hatred deepened. "You think you're funny, but you're just an arrogant, bullying toerag. Leave him _alone_."

"I will if you go out with me. Go on… Go out with me, and I won't touch him again."

"Not if it were you and the giant squid!"

As the crowd winced at Lily's harsh rejection, Snape got to his wand and caused a deep gash to open on James' face.

James, in turn, sent Snape flying up to an upside down position in the air, revealing his legs, and a nasty looking pair of underwear.

Lily briefly considered laughing with the rest of the crowd, but said, "Let him down!"

James agreed, and Snape fell to the ground, where he was put under a Full Body Bind by Sirius.

Drawing her own wand, Lily yelled, "LEAVE HIM ALONE!"

"Don't make me hex you, Evans."

"Take the curse off!"

James did so reluctantly, and told Snape, "You're lucky Evans was here."

Snape sneered. "I don't need or want help from nasty Mudbloods like her!"

Lily instantly switched sides. "Fine, I won't do it again. Oh, and wash your pants, _Snivellus_."

"Apologize to Evans!" James roared.

Lily spun. "And don't _you_ go making him do so. You're just as bad as he is-"

"I'd NEVER call you a – a you-know-what!" James yelped.

"Screwing your hair up because you think it looks cool, showing off with your stupid Snitch, hexing people just because you can – I'm amaze your broomstick can get off the ground with your fat head on it! You make me SICK!"

She walked away, and James called, "Evans! Hey, EVANS!"

After a few seconds, Sirius called out, "Who wants the show to continue?"

To a roar of applause, Snape flew into the air once more, with James asking his audience if they wanted him to take Snape's pants off.


	23. He Blew Any Chance He Ever Had

A week later, Lily and Remus were on the train patrolling together.

Suddenly, Lily asked, "Remus, can you listen well?"

"Lils, I live with James and Sirius. Go ahead, by all means."

Lily took a deep breath, and said, "I gave him a chance, Remus. I really did. He blew any shot he ever had with that stunt after the O.W.L.s!"

"We figured that," Remus said.

"You said he's changed! What's he done to prove that to me? Can you honestly expect me to believe he's changed for the better?"

Remus sighed. "Based on what you've seen, you have no reason in the world to believe me. I'm with him almost constantly, Lils, and I've seen him to compassionate things that even he didn't know he was capable of."

"Like what?" Lily asked, suddenly curious.

Remus winced. "I'm really sorry, but the biggest of those things I can't ell you about. Let's just say it involved a near-death experience and Snape."

"Okay, Remus, you _can't_ leave it at that."

"That's all I'm gonna say on the subject. Period. You have to admit that he tried though, honestly. He didn't hex anyone unless they deserved it or they were Snape. He didn't' ask you out except for that post-O.W.L. incident. Give him some credit, Lils."

Lily and Remus then sat in the 5th year Gryffindor Prefect carriage for the rest of the ride home.

Moments later, James stuck his head in and said, "Evans, will you-"

Lily yelled in frustration, threw a shoe at James' head, and screamed, "NO!"

He caught the shoe, and backed out of the compartment.

"See?" Lily said. "He's still the – he's still got my shoe! Excuse me."

She stormed into the corridor, and screamed, "James Potter! Bring me back my shoe! Now!"

Her shoe was tossed to her feet, and picking it up, she huffed back to the compartment. "Why?"

"Er, why what, Lils?" Remus asked.

"Why's he like that? He didn't use to be that bad!"

Just as she said that, the train rolled to a stop at 9 ¾ , and she and Remus continued their discussion on the platform after saying bye to Cali, Dina, and Steph.

"He's still not that bad, trust me," Remus said.

"Why can't you tell me what he did if it was good?" Lily whined.

"I just can't, Lils, I – are you even listening?"

Remus turned to look at the woman Lily was looking at. "Who's that?"

"It's Petunia!" Lily said, pulling Remus in front of her. "Quick, Remus, hide me!"

"Who's Petunia?" he asked. "And, Lily, if she didn't notice your hair, she must have noticed this whole scene, she was looking right at us."

"Petunia's my sister. She's a Muggle, and she hates magic, so I don't know why she's here. And she's not that observant, so I doubt she saw us-"

"Hello, sister dearest," Petunia said, icily. "What was that?"

"Nothing," Lily said. "I was just telling Remus here goodbye."

She turned to him, eyes pleading, but said, "See you next year, Remus. Owl if you get the time."

After he left, Petunia dragged Lily to her car.

"Why are you here?" Lily asked. "Where are mum and dad?"

"I offered," Petunia responded. "I came to see that boy I saw last year, but he wasn't here."

"Who?"

"The tall, attractive boy with dark hair and glasses."

"Funny you should mention him," Lily muttered, under her breath.

Petunia continued. "So, who was _that_ boy? Was _he_ your boyfriend?"

"No, of course not. That's Remus Lupin. He's in my year and house, and he's a Prefect as well, so we're really good friends."

"Oh," Petunia said. "So if this Lupin bloke isn't your boyfriend, the black-haired boy is?"

Lily yelled in frustration, and said, "No, he's not my boyfriend! I do not and have not had a boyfriend! Leave it!"

With that, she hit her head n the car window a few times, and – just to bother Petunia – pulled out her Charms book and began to read.

The rest of the trip was uneventful, but Lily laughed openly when Petunia practically ran to the house after parking the car.

END YEAR FIVE 


	24. Kidnap!

**BEGIN YEAR 6**

Eager to make the train on time – and she had five minutes left - Lily quickly hugged her mum and ran through the barrier.

She hurtled towards the front of the train, trunk and owl cage rattling along behind her. She lugged her trunk into the 6th year Prefects carriage and collapsed on the hard bench, and then remembered that she had a meeting to go to.

As she flung open the door and started out, both of her arms were grabbed and she was lifted off the ground.

Feet flailing, she was dragged along the train until he captors placed her gently in the last compartment, which they quickly soundproofed.

Lily glared at James and Sirius, who were both cowering against the far wall of the compartment.

"You just kidnapped me," she said, in disbelief.

"Uh, yeah," they said, cautiously.

"Do you fell like explaining why I was kidnapped?" she asked calmly.

James, on receiving a sharp poke by Sirius, just stared at Lily, nervous by how calm she was.

"I, uh, just wanted to say hi-"

"Hi, can I leave?"

"No. I, uh, also wanted to ask you out."

Lily sighed and said, "How many times do I have to tell you?"

"Come on, Evans," Sirius said. "Go out with Jamesie, and make him shut up."

"No," she said, getting up to leave. "I need to get my patrol schedule, it's at the meeting that I'm currently missing."

"Remus is getting it for you," James said. "Give me two good reasons as to why you won't go out with me. None of the normal 'you're an arrogant, bigheaded prat stuff' either."

"Well, you just_ kidnapped _me to ask me out," Lily said, before considering her next words. "And, and we were just too good of friends. Think of how weird that would be."

"Okay, the first one makes perfect sense, but obviously the fact that we were friends doesn't bother me," James said, pushing Sirius away, and leaning forward with a grin on his face. "I really like you Lils, and you know what? I'm gonna keep trying."

Finally, Lily managed to escape and make her way to the carriage her friends were in.

Steph jumped up, "Lily! You're finally here!"

"Remus dropped off your patrol schedule, because he said you weren't at the meeting. Where were you?" Dina asked.

"I'd prefer to not talk about it," Lily said, stiffly.

"Ah, James problems?" Cali said.

Lily groaned. "No, both Potter _and_ Black problems."

"What did they do?"

"They kidnapped me, he asked me out, I said no, he asked me why, I told him what I thought, and he said he'd keep trying."

"What did you tell him?" Dina asked.

"Well, he made me give two reasons as to why I said no. I told him that A.) He just kidnapped me, and B.) It would be awkward because we were such good friends."

"Those aren't great reasons, Lils," Cali said. "And James doesn't seem to think it's awkward at all."

"Yeah, well, he's been chasing after me for the past few years. Apparently, nothing's awkward for him. Can't we _please _talk about something else?"


	25. The Projects

Shortly after classes began, the 6th year Gryffindors and Slytherins were sitting in Potions, waiting for Slughorn to arrive.

When he finally did, he announced, "Okay, students, we are going to start a group project in a week, which should last a few weeks, considering the potions you'll be making.

Lily raised her hand, and on seeing this, so did Sirius.

Slughorn, ecstatic to see Sirius actually participating in class, called on him.

Sirius put on a high voice and mocked Lily, saying, "Please, Professor, what potion will we be making?"

James hit Sirius hard on the head, and Lily turned around to glare at him, but Slughorn, oblivious to this, said, "Well, Mr. Black, that all depends on what I assign you and your partner."

"Padfoot, you're my partner!" James yelled.

"Actually, Mr. Potter," Slughorn said, "You just brought me to my next order of business – assigning partners!"

As the class groaned, he continued. "I'll assign groups based on skill your skill in this class. Let me see… the first group is Mr. Snape and Mr. Black, and you'll be making Felix Felicis. Mr. Lupin and Mr. Pettigrew will make Polyjuice Potion. Miss Lane and Miss Lane…"

Lily sat there, looking around at the unpartnered students. '_Please let me be with Dina, please let me be with Dina.'_

"Miss Evans, you and Mr. Potter will be making Amortentia. Now before I get booed out of my own classroom, you are dismissed. Please set up times to work on your projects."

Later during the day, the Gryffindors were sitting in Transfiguration, finishing up notes.

McGonagall stood up and said, "I want to let you know about a partner project that we will be doing. We are starting our unit on human Transfiguration. You and your partner must efficiently cast Transfigurations on each other and come to me with an essay after I've seen that the changes have lasted for a week. Questions? Yes, Mr. Black."

"I've got several, actually," he said. "Do we get to pick our partners? When we talk changes, what are we talking? And you're kidding that the changes last for a week, right?"

McGonagall sighed. "No, you don't get to pick your partners. I know that you're paired up for a Potions project, so you'll remain with those partners. No, I'm not kidding that the changes should last for a week. When I say changes, I mean hair color, and hair color _only_, Mr. Black. If you, or any of you, change anything but hair color, I will personally rip up your diploma in front of the whole school next year, understand? Any other questions? Miss Evans."

"When is the project due, Professor?" she asked.

"At the end of our unit on human Transfiguration. The project is an out of class one, and we'll continue discussions in class."

After talking some notes on the project, Lily stormed out of the room after dismissal.

She hadn't gone very far before being stopped by someone grabbing her bag.

She turned around to face James, and, with a very icy glare, demanded, "What?"

James backed up a bit, and raised his arms. "I, uh, wanted to set up a time to do the projects."

"Fine," she spat. "Lets do Transfiguration first, this weekend. We'll set up Potions after that."

"Evans!" James yelled as Lily walked away. "Meet me in the common room after breakfast on Saturday."

"Fine!" she yelled again as she rounded the corner.

An hour later, the Marauders were sprawled out in various places in their dorm room.

James sighed. "I can't wait for this project to really start. It'll give me an excuse to talk to Evans, and she'll have to talk to me! We've got a date on Saturday."

Sirius scoffed. "I don't think a study session can really be considered a date, Prongs. And make sure Evans doesn't hear you say that or she'll hex you into oblivion. Me and Snivellus will be lucky if we both come out of this alive. I give you permission to kill me if I ask for it, okay?"

"Just don't talk and you'll be good, Pads," Remus said.

"Aw, stuff it, Moony," Sirius replied. "At least Wormtail will do what you tell him to."

Lily threw her bag on the floor next to her bed, jumped onto it, and screamed into her pillow.

After five minutes, she rolled over to see her friends staring at her in hesitation.

"Lils, are you okay?" Cali asked.

"Does it look like I'm okay? Do I have any reason to be okay?" Lily asked, beginning to hyperventilate.

"Um, no…"

Lily took a deep breath and when she was calmer, said, "I'm sorry, guys. I'm just really not looking forward to this project. I'm condemned to death by James Potter! For the love of Merlin, just kill me now!"

"Lily, hon, aren't you overreacting just a little bit?"

"Possibly, but not by much. At least you three have decent partners…"


	26. Hair

**A/N: Thanks for favoriting this and for putting it on email lists! I appreciate it! But, I was looking at reviews, and I've got 27, and this is the 26th chapter, so that's like one review per chapter.... Please, if you have the time, take a second to pound out a quick review. I'll take everything I get to heart, as I think I'm going to attempt to majorly edit my hard copy of this and see where it gets me. Thanks!**

On Saturday, Lily sulked into the common room to see James lounging on a red couch.

Seeing her, he stretched and got up, saying, "Morning, Evans. Follow me."

He started out the portrait hole, and Lily hurried to catch up. He led her to an empty stretch of hallway and started pacing.

"Where _are_ we, Potter?" she asked. "And what in the name of Merlin are you doing?"

James stopped and looked up. He smirked and, with a nod of his head, acknowledged the door that had just appeared in the wall.

Lily, whose mouth was already hanging open, followed James into the room and gasped.

It was perfect! A wooden desk and two armchairs sat in the middle of the room. A mirror was hanging on the wall, and a warm fire was blazing.

Both took their seats, and James said, "Okay, Evans. Do you know the spell?"

"Yes. It's _wigahue_."

"No," James said. "It's _wigahue._"

"That's what I said, Potter."

"Oh. Do you know the wand movement?"

"It's just a normal flick, isn't it?" Lily asked.

"No. Actually, you slowly bring your wand tip to your shoulder, and quickly flick it from there. I'll go first. Ready?"

"No," Lily protested. "Why do you get to go first?"

"Because I'm better at Transfiguration. Ready?"

Lily huffed, but she turned her head away from the mirror and closed her eyes. "Just go, Potter."

James quickly performed the spell and, seconds later, said, "Huh. You look hotter with red hair, Evans. Sky blue doesn't fit you very well."

That hit a nerve. "_What_!" Lily yelled, spinning around to face the mirror.

She saw not blue hair, but dark brown. "Potter, if you would like to remain alive, you'll sit down right now and let me change your stupid hair!"

James looked at her in fear and quickly took a seat facing the empty wall.

Lily slowly cast her spell, and burst out laughing. "Wow, you really look like crap with platinum blond hair."

James spun to face the mirror, and grabbed his head in distress.

"No!" he moaned. "No, no, no, no, no! Evans, what did you do? My hair! My beautiful hair! Change it back, Evans."

Lily smirked and said, "Gee, I'm sorry, but I can't do that. I don't know the counter- spell, I'm not good at Transfiguration, and McGonagall said it needs to last for a week. Let's get started with the essays, then."

An hour and a half later, James said, "What time will we do the Potions project, then?"

"After we go to McGonagall in a week. Now, I just have to figure out how to get to my dorm without people seeing me like this."

James pulled a silvery cloak out of his bag and said, "Lils, get under here. Hurry."

"With you?" she asked. "What is it?"

"It's an invisibility cloak, and it's also our only way to get back without being seen. So, unless you want people to see you, you'll get under it with me."

Reluctantly, Lily joined James under his cloak, and they slowly made their way to the Gryffindor common room.

At the entrance to the girls dorms, James quickly let Lily out before heading off to his own room.

Lily walked into the room and was greeted by Cali saying, "Ew. Look at your hair."

Lily looked up and said, "Excuse me. Your sister turned your hair purple, and you turned hers green. You can't talk."

Dina, whose hair was light brown, said, "That's a good point. At least me and Lils have normal hair colors. By the way, Lils, how'd it go with James?"

Slowly, Lily said, "Not as bad as I expected. We got here without being seen by anybody, and he helped with that."

"How'd nobody see you? The halls are the busiest at this time."

Lily shrugged. "How does James Potter do anything? I'm tired, so I'm off to bed early. Good night."

James flung open the door to his room, and threw himself onto his bed.

"Merlin! She smells _so_ good!"

His friends looked at him strangely.

"You, uh, smelled her?" Remus asked.

James nodded. "She smells like tropical fruit."

"Prongs, mate, we're talking about Lily Evans. How'd you get close enough to smell her? Nice hair, by the way," Sirius said, with a smirk.

James looked up at his friend. "Shut up, mate. Your hair sucks, too. And, we came up under my cloak so we wouldn't be seen. That's when I smelled her."

Sirius shook his now pink hair out of his face. "That's cheating! Moony, Wormtail, is that not cheating?"

A red haired Peter shrugged, and a rainbow haired Remus said, "I don't even want to say anything. If you have the cloak you would have done the same thing."

Sirius raised his eyebrows. "So? We're talking about Prongs, Moony. Night, guys."

A week later, Lily and James met in the common room and headed off to McGonagall's office.

She smiled when she saw them, and asked, "How'd it go, you two?"

"She changed my hair blonde, Professor!" James yelled.

McGonagall raised her eyebrows and said, "Yes, Mr. Potter, I can see that. Oddly enough, that's what she was supposed to do. It looks fine, Miss Evans, and your work was good too, Mr. Potter. Assuming your essays are up to your usual pars, you both received Os on this project."

She silently changed their hair back to normal and dismissed them.

Outside her office, James said, "You look so much better with red hair, Lils. What time will we do this Potions thing?'

"Meet me in the library Thursday during free period," Lily said, before walking away.


	27. Amortentia

James skidded to a stop at Lily's feet in the library, a good fifteen minutes into the Thursday free period.

"You're late, Potter," Lily said dryly.

"Um, I'm really sorry?" James said. "Are we going back to the Room of Requirements, then?"

Five minutes later, they walked into the same room as before, this time with noticeable differences. A cauldron hung over the roaring fire and a cabinet holding potion ingredients sat under a blackboard on the back wall.

As the two of them took their seats at the table, Lily asked, "How much do you know about Amortentia, then, Potter?"

James shrugged. "I know it's a love potion, that it's got some characteristic things to it, and that it must be hard to make if Sluggy's got you doing it."

"Quit with the suck-up crap, Potter! Get out a quill and parchment to take notes on," Lily instructed.

"The name means 'to try to influence or tamper with love.' It's the most powerful love potion in the world, has a mother-of-pearl sheen, and its steam rises in spirals. It doesn't' cause real love, since that's impossible to create, so it's just an infatuation or obsession that forms. The smell of the potion differs according to what attracts the person who's smelling it…"

James looked up from his notes and interrupted Lily, saying, "You'd be a great teacher, Lils."

"Actually, I'd like to be a Healer, I think," she said absently-mindedly, before snapping at him for interrupting.

Several minutes later, they were working on the actual potion.

They had just added frozen ashwinder eggs when Lily said, "Alright, it's done. Now we've got to let it stew for 72 hours. Meet you back here on Sunday?"

When they returned, the potion was its desired color, and the steamy spirals were slowly rising.

James took a deep breath and said, "Merlin, it smells good!" 

Her curiosity getting the better of her, Lily asked, "What's it smell like?"

"You," he said simply.

"Excuse me?" 

"It smells like you, all fruity and fresh," James said, with a glint in his eyes. "What do you smell?" 

Lily, who was already somewhat flustered, blushed as she recognized the smell of James' cologne mixed with the smells of the outdoors and broomstick polish.

"It, uh, smells like a new book, and freshly baked cookies," she lied swiftly. "Shall we, er, bottle this up, and bring it to Sluggy, er, Slughorn, then?"

James smirked and scooped up a vial of the potion, quickly labeling it '_Amortentia – L. Evans, J. Potter'_

Lily vanished the rest of the potion, and the two teenagers gathered their things before heading off to Slughorn's office.

After Lily timidly knocked on the door, Slughorn called, "Yes? Who is it?" 

"James Potter and Lily Evans, sir," James called back. "Our project's done."

Slughorn eagerly opened the door and ushered the Gryffindors in, before quickly examining the potion he had been given.

"This looks excellent!" he gushed. "Maybe I'll have to partner the two of you up more. Did you learn a lot, James?"

"Yes, sir," James said. "Lily's a great teacher."

"Of course she is," he mused. "If I may be so frank as to ask, what did it smell like to you?"

"Her," James responded instantly, motioning to Lily.

Slughorn grinned jovially, and looked expectantly at Lily, who said, "New books and freshly baked cookies, sir."

"Would those be your answers under Veritaserum?"

They both assured their professor that they were telling the truth (or in Lily's case, lying skillfully), and Lily asked, "Please, Professor, can we go now?"

"You don't want your grades? Surely you can wait for them."

So, they waited while Slughorn did who knows what to the potion behind his desk – James enjoying the fact that Lily was still standing incredibly close to him, Lily inwardly cursing her teacher for being so nosy.

"An O to both of you!" he announced. "I'll see you two on Wednesday."

They both quickly exited the office, but when James turned to talk to Lily, she was gone, having bolted away from both Slughorn and James at the first possible chance.

James shrugged, confused, and slowly made his way back to Gryffindor tower to have a talk with his friends.


	28. The Aftermath

**A/N: Just a few things. First, I wanted to thank everybody for reading and reviewing, and also want to throw in a couple pushes for more reviews and readers. If you have friends who read fanfics, pass mine along to them if you think about it. Second, I have I think 10 chapters of a new Harry Potter fic written, and I'll probably begin posting it soon, and I'll be sure to let you know the title and when I put it up. I also have an idea for a Twilight one that I'm going to start soon, so look for that in the nearish future maybe. Alright, read and enjoy and review!**

Lily threw open the door to her dorm room and collapsed on the nearest bed, having just sprinted from the dungeons.

"Hey, Lils!" Cali said brightly. "Oh, what's wrong?"

"Slughorn's way to nosy for his own god."

Cali raised her eyebrows. "Lils, he's always been like that. Really, thought, what's wrong?"

"I just ran here from the dungeons."

"Why in Merlin's name would you do that?"

"We made Amortentia, and kept getting pestered about what the bloody thing smelled like to us!"

Coming to sit by Lily, Cali said, "What _did_ it smell like?"

Lily sighed and shook her head. "He said it smelled like me."

"Aw! That's so sweet! You're so lucky, Lils. The cutest boy in school has eyes for you and you alone."

Lily rolled her eyes. "Yeah, lucky me."

"What did it smell like to you, then?"

Putting on a stoic face, Lily responded with, "New books and freshly baked cookies."

After a few moments, Cali looked up suspiciously. "Aren't the smells things that attract you?"

"Yes."

"You're lying! You don't even like cookies very much!"

Lily, who had been expecting this, said, "I know, it's bizarre. Even Slughorn didn't' know why it smelled like that. But, we got another O! What about you and Steph?"

"We got an E on the Transfig assignment, and an A on the Potions one. But you just changed the subject. Why'd your potion, um, lie to you?"

"It didn't lie! I don't know what happened, alright?" Lily said, exasperated. "Please, Cal, drop it?"

Reluctantly, Cali agreed, adding, "For now."

James on the other hand, practically skipped to his dorm. He sort of twirled into the room and jumped onto his bed. Then, he realized that Sirius and Remus had been playing chess and were giving him odd looks.

"Um, neither of you saw that, right?" James asked.

"Prongs, mate, we both saw it," Sirius confirmed. "What's wrong with you?"

"I think Evans is a liar!"

"And how is that a good thing?" Remus asked, confused.

"We made Amortentia, Moony! It smells like what attracts people! I told her it smelled like her and she got all flustered when I asked what it smelled like to her. She said that it smelled like freshly baked cookies and new books, but it was pretty easy to tell that she was lying, and why would she lie unless it was to further deny her unquestionable love for me!"

"Prongs!" barked Sirius.

"Yea?"

"You're slipping into that creepy stalker mood again."

"Oops! I'm just excited, I guess. So, how'd your projects go?"

Sirius raised his eyebrows. "You're changing the subject. We were talking about Evans. All right, who are you and where's the real Prongs?"

"It's me, mate. You said I was going into stalker mood, and I didn't want to go there. Want me to keep talking about Evans, then?"

"NO!" Remus and Sirius both yelled, throwing pillows at their friends as he started babbling about his long time crush.

"No! Please, Merlin, make it stop!"

"Quick, Moony! Find the off switch! Hurry!"


	29. Change of Heart

A few weeks later, while the boys were sitting in their usual compartment, a large eagle owl delivered a black envelope to James.

The color drained from his face as he said, "This is a Ministry owl. Oh, Merlin, no!"

He slowly opened the letter and read it, crumpling it up and throwing it to the other end of the compartment, tears forming in his eyes.

Sirius, who had never seen his surrogate brother like this, sat next to him and asked, "What happened?"

James drew a shallow breath and managed to mumble a few words before collapsing against the seat behind him. "Mum and dad…Death Eaters."

With a sharp intake of breath, Sirius closed his eyes. "They're not…? Oh, Merlin, James, I'm so sorry!"

Remus came over and sat on James' other side, and murmured his sympathy. The three of them sat like that for a long time, arms around a distraught James, with their own feelings of despair rushing through them.

Lily, meanwhile, was very curious as to where Remus had been for their patrol, and marched off to the Marauders compartment.

She threw open the door and demanded, "Remus Lupin, where were-"

The sight that she saw shut her up immediately. The three boys were huddled around each other, and Lily was greeted by their tear-streaked faces and a few dry sobs.

Remus quietly walked over to the door and pushed Lily outside, where the two of them held a whispered conversation.

"Where were you?" Lily asked.

"Here. James got some bad news."

"What happened?" 

Remus closed his eyes before answering. "His mum and dad are dead."

Instantly, Lily sobered up, and asked, "Oh my God. How?"

"They were murdered last night. By a group of Death Eaters. Sorry I wasn't on patrols."

"Don't worry, Remus. Excuse me."

Surprising herself, Lily followed her instincts and walked back into the compartment, taking the place next to James that Remus had left empty.

Without looking at her, James quietly said, "Hullo, Evans."

On a sudden whim, she pulled him into a hug, saying, "Oh God, James, I'm so sorry. How are you doing?" 

He broke the hug and looked at Lily with a weary, tear-streaked face. "Thanks, Lily. I'm not doing so well, but I'm doing a lot better now. Merlin, Lils, it was so sudden…"

Lily pulled him into another hug, murmuring, "I know, James, I know. We're here for you – Remus, Sirius, and I. God, James, I'm so, so sorry!"

"I know. Thanks again, Lils," James said, turning to face her, a sad smile on his face. "Will you go out with me?"

Lily shook her head and said, "Sorry. I can't, not after this. I'm, uh, going to go. I'm so sorry, James, you know that right?"

He hugged her one last time and said, "Yeah, I know. Thank you so much. Have a good summer, Lily." 

Shooting him an apologetic smile before leaving for her compartment, Lily softly said, "You too, James. You too."

As she pulled the door to her compartment close, her friends turned to look at her, taking in her red eyes and sad expression.

"Lily?" asked Cali, timidly. "Where were you?"

Sitting by the window, Lily softly responded, "With Remus, Sirius, and James." 

Her friends stared at her. "You called him James!"

"I know, and I also hugged him at least three times, but don't get excited," Lily said, darkly.

Catching on, Steph asked, "Oh no. What happened?"

"His parents are dead. They were murdered by Death Eaters. I went to see why Remus didn't' show up for the patrols, and ended up sitting there hugging him for thirty minutes. He also asked me out."

"Oh, God, Lily, we're so sorry! Wait, Why'd he ask you out?"

Lily shrugged. "I suppose because he felt the same thing click that I did. I don't really know. I do know that he's serious about how much he likes me."

"Lils?" Dina asked. "What did you say this time?"

"I sad no, but Merlin, Dina, I'm so confused right now! Oh, and Cali, I kind of lied about my potion. It really smelled like the outdoors, broomstick polish, and…"

"Sorry?" Cali said. "I didn't catch that last part." 

"The cologne James wears," Lily whispered, still depressed from hearing about James' parents.

"So, you like him?"

Putting her head in her hands, Lily said, "Maybe. No. Oh, I don't know! I'm so confused right now!"

With a glance out the window, Lily then said, "I can't believe we're already here. I'm Apparating home, so I'll see you next year. Write me lots, okay? Bye!"

Just as she was about to leave the station, a little piece of parchment folded into a lily landed on her trunk.

Intrigued, she opened it. It read:

_Thanks for everything, Lily. I really appreciate it. Again, hope you have a good summer, and – I can't say this enough – thanks, you helped a lot. See you next year. Love James._

Surprised, Lily looked up and her eyes locked with James'. They shared a small smile before departing for the summer.

**END YEAR 6**


	30. The Heads

**A/N: Ugh, I thought that this one was a longer chapter, but I guess not, so sorry about the length. There's two years left in this fic, seventh and the first year after school. There's a possibility that there won't be an update for the next couple weeks, I'll be on various trips and I don't know if I'll get a chance to get on a computer. Anyway…. Please read, review, and enjoy!  
**

**BEGIN YEAR SEVEN**

With a loud crack, Lily Apparated to Platform 9¾ after saying her goodbyes at home.

Taking a deep breath, Lily pushed her trunk and owl cage to the front of the train, Head Girl badge gleaming on her robes.

She walked into the Head's carriage, expecting it to be empty, only to see Remus and James already there.

"Lily!" Remus said, standing up and giving her a hug. "Congratulations!"

She smiled. "Thanks. You, too!"

"Thanks," Remus said. "But it's not me."

The smile dropped off Lily's face. "Then who?" 

James then walked over and gave Lily a box of chocolate frogs. "Congratulations, Lils!"

"I…you…but him…I…thanks," Lily managed to say, taking the chocolates. "I mean, thanks, James. You deserve congratulations, too. I don't know how, but you deserve it."

"Thanks," James said, hugging Lily. "For everything. You don't know how much it helped." 

"James, don't mention it. It was no problem, honestly."

James stepped back so that he could look Lily in the eyes. A smirk began to form across his face.

Lily noticed this and quickly sad. "No. James, don't do it."

"Do what? Ask you out?"

"Yes, that."

"Lily, I know your feelings for me have changed, so what's your answer?"

Lily sat down in the chair labeled HEAD GIRL, and waited for James to take his seat. "You're right, James. I obviously don't hate you anymore, but I can't say yes. I'm just too confused right now. I'm sorry."

"It's okay, Lils. So, do you want to take the meeting, or do you want me to do it?"

Lily smiled. "Go ahead, I'm interested to see how you and responsibility mix."

"Alright then. I'm James Potter, Head Boy, and this is the beautiful Head Girl, Lily Evans. Now, are there any questions for us before we assign patrol schedules?"

Several hands shot up and James randomly called on everyone but Snape.

"How'd you get Head, Potter?"

"Why isn't Remus Head Boy?"

Lily stood up. "I know that James being Head Boy is unexpected, trust me, I know. But he doesn't know why he's Head, and neither do I, it's completely Dumbledore's choice. Are there any other questions that are actually important? Good, now for your patrol schedules…"

After the welcoming feast, Lily and James made sure Prefects were shepherding the younger students to the dorms, and they headed to the Head Dorm.

They stopped at a portrait of a young girl dressed in mourning, and listened as she said, "Congratulations on being this year's Heads. You may set your password."

"We'll go with 'Eight Days a Week,'" Lily said to the girl. "Thank you."

As they walked in, James asked, "Why that? You do know there's only seven days in a week, right?"

"Of course I know that," Lily snapped, then shrugged. "It's the name of one of my favorite songs."

They both gasped as the walked into the common room. It was a miniature of the Gryffindor commons, with a few comfortable red and gold chairs and couches in the center.

Two desks and bookshelves sat in front of the two large windows, and a large fire was roaring in the grate.

On either side of the fire was a door, one labeled HEAD GIRL, the other HEAD BOY. On the opposite wall a door led to a spacious bathroom.

Curious to see their rooms, the two students pushed open the doors. The walls in James' room were plastered with Quidditch posters, and Lily's were covered in both moving and non-moving pictures of her, her family, and her friends.

They walked back to the common room and fell onto chairs facing each other.

"Wow," Lily said.

"Wow is right! I never thought I'd say this, but I'm actually glad I'm Head Boy."

Lily gasped. "James Potter, rejoicing that he was given a position of responsibility? Sweet Merlin, what has the world come to?"

"Hey!" James cried, whipping a pillow at Lily. "Who ever said I liked the responsibility part? Now, come one, we've got patrols."

Throwing the pillow back at James, Lily followed him out of the portrait hole, laughing at his contradiction.


	31. More Bad News

**A/N: First off, thanks so much to those of you who have already read, reviewed, and favorite me! I'm sorry for the delay in updates. I'm back from all the trips I had to go on, so hopefully updates will start to be more regular now. Please read, review, and enjoy, and as always, check out my other fics as well!**

Two weeks later, as he was coming out of the bathroom, toweling his hair dry, James heard sobs coming from the common room.

Dropping the towel, he walked towards the couch that Lily was crying on. He quickly sat down next to her and put an arm around her shoulders.

"Lils, it's okay. What's wrong?" he asked.

Through her sobs, Lily pointed a shaking hand at a black envelope laying on the table in front of her.

"Oh, Lily! I'm so, so sorry! What happened? It's okay, you don't have to answer that, it was a stupid question."

"No," she said. "It's fine. My mum and dad were in a car accident. They both…died…on the way to the hospital."

"Merlin, Lils, I'm so sorry. Are you okay?" James asked, hugging her.

Lily sniffled a little. "I'm getting better. I never got to say goodbye, James. My sister got to do that at least."

"I know, Lils. Don't worry, I'm here for you," James said, as Lily started to cry into his arms again.

Half and hour later, Lily looked up at James and said, "Thank you so much, James, really."

"Don't mention it, Lils. I know how you feel. Hey, do you want me to get anything for you? Breakfast or something?"

Lily gasped. "God, James, I made you miss breakfast! I'm sorry."

"Don't be, it's fine," he assured her. "Really though, do you want food?"

Lily laughed, shakily. "A little. But I'm not leaving this room right now."

James smirked a bit. "Don't worry. Stick tight and I'll be back in a few minutes with food for us both.

About ten minutes later, he was back, levitating a large tray in front of him.

The two them ate and talked softly until another owl flew in the still open window.

As James vanished the rest of their meal, Lily read the letter, set fire to it, and burst into tears again.

"Lily!" James cried in horror, rushing to comfort her again. "What happened?"

After a few minutes, Lily spat, "It was from Petunia."

"Your sister?"

"Yes," Lily said, viciously. "Sadly. Petunia's getting married soon, and her fiancé has a nice house already. So my mum and dad said that I could have the house if anything happened. They also wanted us to split their money 50:50."

"And?"

"Vernon's moving in next week, and Petunia's splitting the money about 70:30. Don't worry, she's got enough consideration to keep my stuff until summer."

"Merlin!" James said. "She sounds like a real… um, a not nice person."

"You should have said it," Lily muttered, darkly.

"She's your sister, Lils. I couldn't say it."

"I don't care about her anymore. Thanks for the thought, but honestly, I wish you would have said it. She deserves it, along with several very painful hexes and curses."

"Okay, remind me not to get on your bad side," James said.

Lily raised her eyebrows. "You've definitely been there before."

"True. Remind me to not do it again."

Lily laughed and a horrorstruck expression flew across her face.

"What?"

"We're missing class!"

James laughed. "You're excused for the week, and I'll skip the rest of Potions. I have Head duties, you know."

"Oh, what a great little Head Boy you are!" Lily said, sarcastically.

"Well, I try hard."

After a few minutes of silence, Lily said. "I'm surprised you haven't said anything about Hogsmeade yet. It's already only a week away."

James bit his lip, surprise. "No. I couldn't ask you, not after this. It'd be unfair or taking advantage of you or something."

"James?" Lily said in a calm voice.

"Yeah?"

"Ask the bloody question!" she spat.

James jumped away from her and raised his hands in surrender. "Hey, Evans, go out with me?"

"Why'd you say Evans?" Lily asked.

James shrugged. "I had to make it like very other time, right? Will you got to Hogsmeade with me, Lils?"

"Yes."

James' eyes widened. "Really? You're not kidding? Finally!"

"On one condition – we don't tell our friends and let them find out next week."

"Deal!" James said, pulling her into a crushing hug.

"James!" she managed to gasp.

He released her and she said, "Sorry, I couldn't breathe. Now, get to class!"

"Yes, ma'am," he said, heading to the portrait hole. "Hey, Lils?"

"Yeah?"

"I know we, uh, got sidetracked from the reason I'm still here, and I hate to bring it up again, but I truly am sorry for you."

A sad expression crossed Lily's face and she looked down. "I know. Thanks so much, James. I'll see you at lunch, or at break, or something."

He smiled sadly. "Deal. Bye, Lils."


	32. Hogsmeade

One week and several incidents that came close to revealing their relationship later, James and Lily met in their common room before meeting their friends at breakfast.

"Ready?" Lily asked.

James grabbed her hand and started pulling her out of the portrait hole, saying, "Are you kidding? I've been ready for this for a long, long time, Lils. Lets go!"

"Stop running, James! You're about to pull my arm out! The Great Hall won't disappear on us, don't worry."

"You never know," he replied, slowing down.

They stopped outside the Hall and proceeded to slowly walk through the doors, hand in had.

Every single person in the room (except for Sirius, who was incredibly absorbed with his food) stopped talking and stared at the two of them as they took their seats next to Remus and Sirius.

The talk gradually built back up, but Remus continued to stare at Lily and James, who were sitting there, smiling, acting like nothing unusual had happened.

Finally, Sirius looked up from his plate to say, "Why isn't anyone talking?" 

"James just walked in holding Lily's hand," Remus said, amazed.

Turning back to his food, Sirius said, "Congrats, Prongs! Finally!"

"I'm, er, taking her to Hogsmeade with me," James said, cautiously.

Sirius dropped his fork. "What? You're coming with us, mate!"

James looked from Sirius' face to Lily's, and then to his and Lily's linked hands. "I know I said I'd go with you, Padfoot, but I'm taking Lily this time. Sorry, mate."

Suddenly, Sirius grinned. "I get it, mate. You and Evans go and have a good time. We'll see you two later."

"Really?" James asked. "No spying or anything?"

"Nope. Marauder's honor. Really, Prongs, go already!"

With a grin, James took Lily's hand again, and they walked out of the Great Hall, past the gates of Hogwarts, and into Hogsmeade.

"So, I was thinking of going to the bookshop" James suggested, brightly, causing Lily to send him a look. "All right, I was thinking you'd like the bookstore."

"Sounds good," Lily said, grinning. "Lead the way."

They reached the store five minutes later, and James followed Lily through the maze of shelves as she picked out books. He did, however, insist that she return to the Quidditch section.

Half an hour later, he asked, "So what did you end up with, Lils?"

"_Heal Your Friends: How to Deal with Minor Injuries, My Month as a Muggle, American Wizards vs. British Wizards, The Best Household Charms, Pick Your Perfect Job, _and _N.E.W.T.s for Dummies_."

James snorted and quickly said, "Wonderful choices."

"Yeah? What did you get then?" Lily asked.

"_Pride of Portree: Past and Present, Broomsticks of Now and Then, _and _Blogging to Stooging: Common Quidditch Fouls_."

Rolling her eyes, Lily herded James to the register, where they paid and left the store.

"I'll carry those for you, Lils," James said, gesturing to the heavy bag that she was carrying.

She smiled. "I got it, thanks, James."

"Really," he said. "I insist. Where to next?"

"Thanks, then. I think the Quidditch store sounds nice-"

"So do I! Lets go!"

Another half hour passed, and with a new pair of Chaser gloves each, Lily and James reentered the crowded street.

"Where now?" Lily asked.

"Zonkos!" James said, eagerly.

"No."

"No?"

"_No_," Lily said firmly, before giving in to James' pouts. "Fine, I'll compensate. To Honeydukes!"

Sometime later, James was paying for two full baskets of sweets, ignoring Lily's protests, and then he led her off to a tiny ice-cream cart.

"I'll have a large chocolate strawberry cone, please," he told the man behind the cart. "Help yourself, Lils."

"Um, a small chocolate milkshake, then."

They sat at a small table for the next hour, eating their ice-cream and talking with each other, mainly about Quidditch.

"Can you believe the Irish Seeker hit _another_ house?"

"I'm actually surprised he hasn't been sacked yet," Lily said, as she and James walked towards the Three Broomsticks.

"Nah, he's too good to get rid of," James said, before quickly buying two Butterbeers to go, which they drank on the walk back to the castle.

As they walked through their portrait hole, Lily said, "Thanks, James. I had a great time."

She started to walk up to her room to deposit her bags, but James pulled her back.

"Me too," he said, before bending slightly to kiss her.

A cat call echoed through the room, and Lily and James broke their kiss quickly.

"_Accio cloak_," James muttered darkly, catching his cloak as it flew at him.

Sirius was revealed, lying lazily on a couch. "Hey, Prongs, Evans."

James, who had just whispered something into Lily's ear, slowly moved to the couch, motioning for her to follow.

"You prat," James said. "You stole my dad's cloak. You, my dear Padfoot, are a dead man. Now, Lils!"

He and Lily both hexed Sirius, and proceeded to put their bags in their rooms.

Minutes later, they joined each other in the common room, sitting together on the couch opposite Sirius, and watching him come to with bemused looks on their faces.


	33. The Future

A little more than a month later, Lily, James, Sirius, and Remus were sprawled in various places of the Heads' common room – Lily and James sharing a loveseat, Remus in a armchair, and Sirius taking up a whole couch.

"Do you guys have any idea what you're going to do with your lives?" Lily asked, looking at each of the boys in turn.

When none of them made any move to answer, she said, "Remus, how about you go first?"

He sighed, looked up and the ceiling, and said, "I dunno. I guess I'll find a place near a forest outside of London, and try to get a job, which could be difficult considering my furry little problem."

"Your furry little problem? That's one way to look at it. It's cute," Lily said.

All three of the boys looked at Lily with raised eyebrows.

"You, um, know about that? Prongs, did you tell her?" Remus demanded.

James looked insulted. "I wouldn't tell anyone without your consent, Remus, not even Lils. She doesn't even know about our Anima… You know you could come live with me, right?"

"James, your house is in the middle of a field. Full moons would be difficult, but thanks. Congratulations, mate, now you get to face the wrath of Lily!"

Lily turned to her boyfriend. "What don't I know? Your Anima…. As in Animagus or Animagi, maybe?"

James cringed. "Maybe. Oh, all right, fine. Sirius, Peter, and I are Animagi. Sirius is a dog, Peter's a rat, and I'm a stag. All right. What's the future got in store for you, Paddy?"

Sirius yawned loudly and said, "I'm moving in with Prongs, and I'm gonna start Auror training with him."

"So, I'm apparently putting my house up for rent – I'm _kidding_, Pads, you don't need to pay rent – but like he said, I'm going into Auror training, too. What about you, Lils?"

Lily shook her head. "I really don't know. I want to be a Healer, I think, but I don't know where I'm going to live. I don't have money to rent a place, and my sister stole my house, and-"

"Live with me, Lils," James said.

"Really? You mean it?"

"Yeah, of course I mean it. There's way more than enough room in my house."

"Oh, Merlin, James, thank you!" Lily said, hugging him, before whispering, "I love you."

James looked down at his girlfriend and murmured, "I love you too, Lils."

Sirius cleared his throat from the couch and said, "Aw, look Moony! Isn't it cute?'

James seemed to realize that his friends were still in the room, and looked up, glaring at Sirius.

"You know you can leave, right?" he asked.

Sirius shrugged. "Yeah. So?"

"Leave, Sirius."

"I don't want to."

"Moony, take Sirius with you, please. Good night."

When they finally left, James collapsed against Lily, who smirked and said, "That was, um, interesting."

James laughed. "Sorry. Padfoot can get annoying sometimes, but he's a great friend. I guess you get used to it."

"I know. Remember, before we started going out and before we hated each other, I was friends with him too."

James laughed and kissed Lily goodnight, before heading up to his room.


	34. The Study Rant

**A/N: So, when I said more frequent updates, I lied, and I'm sorry. Last weekend I was traveling and had a concert and didn't have time. I'm going to TRY to get back on the 'every weekend update schedule,' but I'm not making any promises. School started this past Wednesday, and half of my teachers didn't even bother to wait until the second day to hand out piles of homework. That and the fact that most of my classes are AP and that I start work again soon will mean I'm very busy, but I will try to update every Sunday. **

**So, on that note, please Read, Review, and Enjoy! **

Lily kicked it into high gear the month before the N.E.W.T.s. She would study for hours on end, during class breaks, or whenever she had a spare minute.

She was – like usual – sitting alone in the Heads' room, books and notes spread out all around her. About halfway through her notes on 6th year Potions, the portrait was slammed open and James jumped through.

He plopped down next to Lily on the couch and pulled her closer to him. "How long have you been studying today, Lils?"

She turned her weary emerald eyes to him and said, "Not very long."

James scrutinized her. "I left you here after breakfast, and since then have only seen you now and at lunch. Really, Lils, how long have you been studying today?" 

"Six hours," she said quietly.

James hugged her tightly, saying, "Merlin, Lils! You need to take a break! Sirius and I are about to go fly around the pitch, and you should come with. If it helps, you really don't need to be studying Potions."

Lily smiled at him and said, "You're sweet, James, but you're also one of the people who _do _need to study Potions. Stay here and study with me."

James looked at her in horror. "But, Lils, Sirius is waiting, and you've studied for so long, and you haven't flown in forever, and I really don't need to study Potions, and-"

"James," Lily said, cutting him off. "You really aren't that good at Potions, and these are our N.E.W.T.s we're talking about. Please, James, humor the girl you love, and sit and study with me."

So James sat down next to Lily, saying, "You're a smart woman, Lils, you can definitely spot a guy's weakness."

Lily grinned at him. "I know, and I plan on using my gifts to my advantage. Now, before you can say anything else, tell me what the properties of Moonstone are."

Half an hour later, the portrait hole slammed open again. This time, Sirius stormed in, shouldering his broom.

"Prongs, mate, tell me what's so hard about 'Go get your girlfriend and have her come fly with us?'"

He then noticed that James was sitting next to a very annoyed Lily, and quickly muttered apologies to her as he stretched out on a couch.

James put down his notes and sarcastically said, "Sirius Black, I'd like you to meet my girlfriend, Lily Evans. So sorry for not introducing you earlier."

"Calm down, Prongs. I know she's stubborn. I just wanted to make sure the two of you weren't making dark purple of anything, and then I come in and see you studying. Stop studying, Lils! See the light! Come fly with us!"

Lily decided to start on Sirius at that point. "Sirius Black, do you not get it? Our N.E.W.T.s are in one month! We need to study for them, even if we think we know it all. These tests aren't like the O.W.L.s-"

"Lils?" James interrupted, as Sirius shut the portrait door.

"-They're much harder, and have a lot more riding on them. You have to get good scores to get a decent job, and you need top marks to get into the Auror Academy! How we do on these tests-"

"Lils?"

"-Determines our whole futures. They're only in a month, Sirius, a month! You say you don't need to study, and keep putting it off, and all of a sudden you've got two days until your first N.E.W.T. and you haven't studied at all, and-"

"LILY!"

"What?" she cried, spinning to face James. "Why do you keep interrupting me?"

"Lils?" James said, calmly.

"Yes, James?" 

"He's been gone for the past five minutes."


	35. Post NEWT Quidditch

**A/N: So, when I said more frequent updates, I lied, and I'm sorry. Who knew AP Calculus, AP English Lit, AP Psychology, and Physics could suck so much all together? I'll really try to get back on the bandwagon when it comes to updating. I feel bad for being so bad at it.**

**Sorry if you got multiple updates – I uploaded the chapter after this and skipped this one. So I had to fix it.**

**So, on those notes, please Read, Review (reviews are good things!) , and Enjoy! **

On the morning of his last N.E.W.T., James walked down to his common room and sat on a couch opposite the one occupied by his sleeping girlfriend, and for a few moments, just watched her as she slept.

Then, he put a hand on her shoulder and gently shook her awake, saying, "Morning, Lils! Wake up! We've got our Defense N.E.W.T.s in an hour and a half, and we need to go to breakfast. Fine, you don't want to wake up, that leaves me one choice. The exam results are back, you got all Ts."

That woke Lily up. She shot up and glared at James. "Liar," she said. "What do you want, James?"

James hugged her and said, "Sorry for lying, Lils. You were virtually dead to the world, and I need to wake you up. The Defense exam is today, remember? Hurry up and get ready, and we'll leave for breakfast in about twenty minutes."

Half an hour later, Lily and James had joined Remus and Sirius at the Gryffindor table, and Lily was hyperventilating.

James looked at her in concern, and asked her what was wrong.

"It's our Defense N.E.W.T., James! I'm horrible at Defense, and when I fail this test I'll blow my chances of being a Healer out the window!"

"It's alright, Lils," James soothed. "You're not horrible at Defense, you're just not exceedingly amazing at it like you are with Potions and Charms. You've studied yourself silly, so don't worry. You'll do fine and you know it. Here, calm down and finish eating, then I'll quiz you if you want."

It was a couple hours after the N.E.W.T.s, and the foursome was sitting under their favorite tree.

"So, how'd it go, Lils?" James asked.

She beamed at him, and replied, "A lot better than I thought it would."

"I told you that it'd all be fine," James said. "I think the four of us are going to play some Quidditch in a bit, but before we do that, lets you and me fly off on our own."

Just as they prepared to kick off, Sirius said, "Hey, Prongs! Before you go, I need to tell you something. Well, you see, Moony and I – okay, fine, it was really just me, but I lost the Map."

"You what?" James demanded, outraged.

"Filch caught me and confiscated it," Sirius explained.

"Was it blank?"

Sirius tried to look hurt. "Of course it was. Do I look that stupid?"

"You got the map taken away, so maybe. Let's go, Lils."

They kicked their broom off and took to the air. James led Lily to a secluded meadow in the forest and they landed there five minutes after leaving Remus and Sirius.

"What is this place?" Lily asked James as they sat together on a massive, moss covered tree stump in the center of the clearing.

James shrugged and said, "It's just a place we came across on full moon. I like to come out here when I want to have a private spot to think or talk."

"Oh," Lily said. "That makes perfect sense. Why's it such a big deal that Sirius lost that map he was talking about?"

"It's a 'special' map, that's all," James answered vaguely.

"Is that all?"

"Yup."

"James?" Lily said, warningly. "Tell me what's so special about this map."

James sighed in defeat and said, "It's called the Marauder's Map. Remus, Sirius, Peter, and I made it during our fifth year. It's basically a map of Hogwarts and the grounds, but it shows all the secret passages as well. The best part is that it shows every person in or around the school. Oh, and we set it to passwords that make the map appear and disappear. Aw, crap, you're gonna yell, aren't you?"

Lily looked at him quizzically. "I really should, because you've probably been secretly stalking me for two year with it, but I'm actually not going to."

"Really?"

"Yeah. It's actually pretty incredibly that you could do it. There must have been some pretty advanced magic involved."

"Well, yeah," James said. "It wasn't easy, or – now that I think about it – entirely legal."

Lily rolled her eyes. "Of course it wasn't. Speaking of illegal, can I ever see Prongs?"

James stood up and smirked at Lily, before melting into the silver-white stag that he became.

As Lily stared at him, James nudged her leg with his nose and playfully cantered out of reach of Lily's swatting hand.

Lily stood up and walked over to James, where she slowly began to rub his neck.

A few minutes later, James resumed his human form and pulled Lily into a crushing hug. "Cool, huh?"

Lily smiled at him and said, "Very. Ready to go destroy Remus and Sirius on the Quidditch pitch?"

They decided to play a game of two on two, all playing Chaser unless the need for a keep appeared.

As if no time had passed, Lily and James played like they played five years previously. Needless to say, they flattened Sirius and Remus, who had stood no chance at a win.

After Sirius had accepted defeat, he stole to the kitchens, where he gathered the food the foursome needed for the small party that they were holding in the Head's common room.

Their N.E.W.T.s were over. After seven years of school, they were finally done.


	36. Closing Ceremony

**A/N: So, when I said more frequent updates, I lied, and I'm sorry. Who knew AP Calculus, AP English Lit, AP Psychology, and Physics could suck so much all together? I'll really try to get back on the bandwagon when it comes to updating. I feel bad for being so bad at it.**

**This is the last chapter that takes place at school :( I actually wrote the speeches for this chapter (and one for a later chapter) all at one time, way before I actually wrote any of the rest of it. Fear not, this isn't the end of the fic – there's still 5 chapters to go.**

**So, on those notes, please Read, Review (reviews are good things!) , and Enjoy! **

"James! Have you seen my brush anywhere?" Lily yelled down to the Head's common room, where James was reviewing his speech for the final time. "James! Did you hear me?"

He looked up and yelled back to his girlfriend. "Did you look in your bathroom drawer? Or, if you've already packed, I'd check your trunk!"

"Oh! Thanks!"

James grinned and shook his head. They were due to line up for their graduation ceremony in fifteen minutes, and Lily was a acting like a nervous wreck.

Five minutes later, she came down to the common room, wearing emerald dress robes with her Head Girl badge gleaming on her chest.

"Ready?" she asked James.

He lazily got up from the couch and ran a hand through his hair. After dusting imaginary lint off his navy robes, he replied, "Now I am. Lets go."

The seventh years were lined up outside the Great Hall, listening to Dumbledore start their ceremony.

"Friends and family, we're here today to usher yet another fantastic group of students out of these doors for the very last time. Now, please join me in welcoming Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry's graduating class of 1978!"

As he said this, the doors to the Great Hall burst open and the students filed in amongst thunderous applause.

After the students took their seats, Dumbledore stood up and began to talk again. "As you all know, these students have spent the past seven years here at Hogwarts, working their way through the lessons they'll require for success in the real world. However, as every single one of these young people in front of me will tell you, school is not just learning – it's much, much more. Who better to tell you about that than tow of our brightest students. Please welcome this years' Head Girl and Boy, Lily Evans and James Potter!"

Lily and James walked to the front together, and Lily took her spot at the podium.

"Thank you, Professor Dumbledore," she said. "Looking back at these past seven years, I can say, without a doubt, that they have been the best seven years of my life. In fact, I'm sure that throughout the rest of my life, I'll always fondly remember the years I've spent here.

"I was raised as a Muggle, by my mother and father, who were both Muggles themselves. At eleven, I got the letter telling me that I was a witch, and was thrilled to be thrown into a world that I thought only existed in fairy tales.

"Then I got to Hogwarts. This castle has been my home for the past seven years, and in it I've encountered learning opportunities, friendships, good times, and bad. I don't regret a single thing that's happened to me here.

"From the very beginning, I mad friends with many incredible people. I've lost some of those friendships, gained new ones, and even reformed a few of the lost ones. I've never had friends like the ones I've had here at Hogwarts, and I wouldn't wish it any other way.

"At first, I was overwhelmed with the magical world. However, I quickly picked up on it, and wanted nothing more than to learn everything I could. I soon made it my personal goal to excel at my schoolwork and to learn as much as possible.

"At the beginning of this year, when I received my badge, I was ecstatic. Me, a Muggle-born witch, had beaten the odds and gained the top honor. My parents eagerly rejoiced with me, and sent me off to school, not knowing that they would never see me again. I only wish that they were here to see me now. I know they're proud of me, and they would want to be here as well.

"Because of the friendships acquired here at school, coupled with the knowledge, of course, we can make it through anything life throws at us. I know I've already made it through several trials, and I know many other people who have done the same.

"These will be some of the best years of our lives, years that we'll never forget, and I dearly hope that's the case for all of us. I'd like to propose a toast, then, to Hogwarts, and to all it's taught us through the years. To Hogwarts!"

As the students, teachers, and guests applauded for Lily, James stepped up to the podium, and started his speech after the noise had died down.

"Well then, I guess I don't have to say much besides that I second every single thing that the wonderful Head Girl already said, not counting a few exceptions.

"While I don't doubt that my parents would be proud of me, I also know that they'd be incredibly surprised that I was made Head Boy. I know I was.

"I mean, really, why make the notorious prankster the one with the most responsibility? Although at the beginning of the year I was just as surprised and confused as everyone else, I'm actually glad that the badge came to me.

"It taught me responsibility, sure, but it also helped me see how great these past seven years have been, and I doubt I'll ever encounter a stretch of years like these again.

"Like Lily said – in here marvelous speech, I might add – I learned a lot, had loads of un, and made many great friends.

"Now, I know that my speech is no where near as good as Lily's – although she did help me write some of it – so I'm going to end it with agreeing wholeheartedly with her once again.

"These really are the best years of our lives, and we are all incredibly lucky to have spent them here. Once again, to Hogwarts!"

For the third time, the audience burst into applause as Lily and James took their seats once more.

Dumbledore than began to call off names, shaking hands and handing out diplomas to students as they crossed the podium.

"Friends and family," Dumbledore said again. "Thank you again for allowing these students to learn here at Hogwarts, and for coming to the ceremony tonight. Now, without further ado, I'd like to introduce the graduated class of 1978! Congratulations!"

As he finished, the students threw their pointed hats into the air, and the Hall erupted into cheers once more.

Moments later, the mass of people began to flow out of the Hall, parents and friends continuing out the enormous front doors, students separating as they went to their dorm

rooms.

"Oy! Prongs, Evans, if you two don't drag your trunks down here right now, I'm leaving without you!" Sirius yelled to the closed doors of Lily and James' common room.

At the same time, the doors opened and they came down, levitating their full trunks in front of them.

They joined Sirius and found Remus as they made their way to the Entrance Hall, and the four of them scrambled into a carriage.

Instead of their normal train compartment, Sirius and Remus decided to join Lily and James in the spacious Head compartment.

While Sirius snagged a bench for himself and while James and Remus secured the heavy trunks in the overhead racks, Lily wrote and sent a letter to her sister.

"What was that?" James asked as he sat down and leaned against Lily.

She smirked and said, "A letter to Petunia telling her I'm not coming home, and that I'll be by in a few days to get my things."

James laughed a little and hugged Lily. "I still can't believe it, Lily Evans is coming to live with me on her own free will. I never thought that'd be the case."

"What? You were planning on my living with you without my consent?"

"Of course not, Lils. The thought never crossed my mind. How about a game of chess before patrols?"

So the four of them settled to patrolling, emptying the snack cart, and playing cards and chess against each other for the train ride to Kings Cross.

Once they arrived and pulled their trunks to the platform, Lily, James, and Sirius bid temporary good-byes to Remus, who was going to stay with his parents for a bit.

After Sirius had Apparated to James' house, Lily took hold of her boyfriend's arm and turned back to the scarlet train, saying, "It's really over, huh?"

James hugged her around the shoulders and said, "Yeah, the end of seven great years. But, Lils, we're about to start a whole new chapter of our lives now that we've graduated! Now, grab hold of your trunk and my arm. Ready?"

With a pop, the two of them left platform 9 ¾ and landed in front of James' house.

**END YEAR 7, NOT END OF FIC!**


	37. James vs Petunia

**AN: I am now officially half way done with my last year of high school! To celebrate, you get an update :) Only FOUR more chapters left! I'm going to keep this short – I'll work on updating more often, like I always say and never do. Please read, review, and enjoy!**

* * *

With a pop, Lily arrived in front of a majestic house, one hand clutching her owl cage, the other digging into James' arm.

"Wow," she breathed, staring at the four story house.

It was a red brick house with bright white trim around the many windows and enormous front door. A sprawling lawn and several small gardens surrounded it.

"Wow," she said again. "This is your house?"

"Yup, for a while longer, at least," James said. "Do you like it?"

"Of course! But what do you mean by for a while longer?"

James shrugged. "I'm planning on selling the house and moving. Think about it, Lils – it's an enormous house and it'll be just the three of us living in it. It's not like we'll be entertaining, so we don't really need the huge space."

"Good points," Lily said. "So what now?"

James sent Lily's things on ahead to the house and grabbed her hand. "I'll give you a tour."

About half way to the house, a large black dog ran up to the couple and began running circles around them.

James gave the dog a disgusted look and said, "Why did you have to come out as Padfoot? Why couldn't you have just walked, like a normal person?"

"James," Lily said, lightly. "You're talking to a dog. Granted, he's named after your best friend, but he's still a dog."

The dog barked a few times before darting back towards the house, and then ran back to Lily and James.

"We can't understand Dog, Pads," James said, exasperated. "For Merlin's sake, talk to us, don't bark!"

With a resigned look on his face, the dog slowly began to melt into Sirius, who stood there, looking pointedly at his best friend and shaking his hair out of his face.

Lily looked between James and Sirius in confusion.

"If I were you, I'd get used to it," James muttered to Lily. "Unless he's inside or playing Quidditch, he'd much rather be a dog than a human. By the way, Sirius, we were on our way in, what was so important that it couldn't wait?"

"Marnie and Lexi are making a huge welcome home dinner!" Sirius said, bursting with excitement.

"That was it?" James asked in disbelief.

Sirius nodded.

"Marnie and Lexi?" Lily said, teasingly. "Is there something you want to tell me, James?"

Sirius actually fell to the ground laughing, and James flushed bright red.

"No! Of course not, Lils! I love you, and you know it! Marnie and Lexi are my house-elves!"

"I figured that, James," Lily admitted. "I was joking, and I'm sorry."

Sirius was backing away slowly. "That was incredible, Lils! I've never seen him blush that much in my entire life!"

Then, before James could do anything to him, Sirius turned around and changed back to his Animagus form, running to the safety of the house.

"Right," James said, once he and Lily were standing in the large front foyer of his house. "Marnie and Lexi have food, so Sirius is out of our hair. Want that tour now?"

At Lily's nod, James began to talk again. "There's four floors, for one thing, but we'll work our way up. If you take the hall to the right, you'll get to the cloak room, and then the great room, which is basically a small ballroom, I guess. If you take the hall left, you run into the dining room, and if you walk through there, you'll find the kitchens."

He led her up the gleaming mahogany staircase, and they stopped on the second floor landing.

"What's on this floor, then?" Lily asked.

"If you go down that way," James said, pointing to his left, "there's the library and three private studies. To the other way, there's a theatre room where there's a bunch of Muggle videos, and there's two living rooms. Ready to move up again?"

When they reached the next landing, James continued, "The third and fourth floors are made up of only bedroom suites. There's four bedrooms on each floor, and each has an attached bathroom. You can either have a room upstairs, where you'll have more privacy, or you can take a room on this floor, it's your choice."

After a few minutes, Lily said, "I'll go with one on this floor, I guess."

"All right," James responded. "Sirius and I have rooms down to the left, so you can pick one of the rooms on the right. I'll show you."

After Lily chose the room painted and decorated in different shades of blue, she and James walked down to the kitchens before leaving to go get Lily's things.

With three small pops, Lily, James, and Sirius Apparated into a deserted tunnel near the house Lily had grown up in.

As James started to walk out of the tunnel (in the wrong direction), Lily grabbed his hand. "James," she pleaded. "You really don't need to do this. I can handle it, trust me."

James looked down at his girlfriend, and said, "I know, Lils. We're here for help and moral support. Ready?"

Cloaks billowing around them, the former Gryffindors walked up to the door of Petunia's house.

Lily tentatively knocked on the door, and moments later, her sister opened the door.

"Can I help you?" she asked scornfully, spotting only James and Sirius at first. Then she saw Lily. "What are you thinking, standing on my doorstep in broad daylight, dressed like the freaks you are? Get inside, quickly!" 

As they walked inside and followed Petunia to the living room, Sirius asked in a whisper, "Are you sure that's your sister, Lily?"

"Sadly, yes," Lily whispered back. "Why?"

"No reason, you're just so much hotter than she is. You don't look a thing alike. I guess the temper is hereditary, though, not due to your red hair."

"Just shut up, Sirius," Lily begged as they sat in the stiff chairs Petunia kept in her living room.

"Oh, look what the wind blew in, a freak and a couple of her freaky friends. Come on, Lily, where are your manners? Introduce us," Petunia sneered.

Lily sneered right back. "James, Sirius, this is my sister, Petunia Evans. Petunia, this is my boyfriend, James Potter, and our friend, Sirius Black."

This threw Petunia. "Potter? Wasn't he the boy who you said you couldn't stand?"

James gently hugged Lily, but directed his cold glare towards her sister. "She had a change of heart."

Petunia huffed a little bit, and demanded, "Why are you here?"

"I'm here to get my things and move out," Lily replied.

"Oh, and where did you get the money to get your own place from?"

"She's living at my house," James cut in. "And you actually just brought up a subject I've been wanting to talk to you about. Maybe Lily would have had the money to buy a house if she wasn't cheated out of her inheritance! In fact, from what I gather, she would have had _this_ house if you hadn't taken it away from her!"

"She didn't deserve either of them! What good would normal money be to freaks like you? As for the house, well, I was here when it happened, and she wasn't. Where was she? At that freak school that she called home! Besides, she's got you, and you probably have some huge house from freaks, so it doesn't matter!" Petunia yelled back.

James dropped his voice and said, "Lily hated me for years. What if she never stopped hating me? What would she do then?"

"I wouldn't care," Petunia replied, her voice laced with venom.

James' face contorted, and he plunged his hand into the pocket of his robes, but before he could draw his wand, Sirius had knocked him to the ground.

Lily ran over to them and cast a furious look at her older sister before saying, "Are you okay, James? Forget her! Let's hurry and pack my room up, that way we can get out of here AS SOON AS POSSIBLE!"

As they walked past Petunia and up the stairs to Lily's old bedroom, Lily turned and muttered to Sirius, "You should have let him hex her."

She opened the door that had a pink sign on it reading '_Lily's Room_.' It hid a bright pink and white room.

While Sirius fell to the floor covering his eyes and complaining of blindness, Lily looked around her room.

There were three floor to ceiling bookshelves, filled with books of every kind. The desk was littered with quills, ink pots, school books, and scraps of parchment. There was a whole wall covered with shelves which held all of Lily's collections: post card displays, antique ink bottles, and dolls and glass animals collected from all over the world.

"Alright," Lily said, enlarging several cardboard boxes she had brought with her. "Sirius, you can pack up my desk. Make sure you get everything on the desk and from the drawers. Then, if you finish that, you can start on the books."

"James, could you _carefully_ pack up the things on the other shelves? And please, please, cast a nonbreakable spell on them."

As the two boys started to pack, Lily began to box up all the clothes and other things she had not taken to Hogwarts with her.

Three hours later, the three of them shrunk the full boxes and stowed them away in pockets of their cloaks.

As they were walking down the stairs, Lily noticed a picture of her and her parents hanging on the wall. She took it off the wall, and a picture frame containing a picture of Petunia and her boyfriend, Vernon, fell off and broke.

"Good riddance," Lily said under her breath before walking into the living room and taking a couple of her family's old photo albums.

Lily and her friends then Apparated back to James' house, where they spent the next several hours unpacking the boxes and setting up Lily's new bedroom.


	38. First Day on the Job

**A/N: So here's the deal. I won't make any more promises about when I'll update anymore, since I can't keep them. There are only THREE more chapters in this one. I first put this online about 2 years before I put my latest one up, and the newer one has almost twice the reviews as this one. That said, check out my other fics – see my profile. So, you know the drill. Please Read, Review, and Enjoy!**

A week later, James ran down the hall to Lily's room and began to pound on her door at 7:30 in the morning.

After a few minutes, Lily opened the door and yawned, looking groggily at her boyfriend.

"James," she complained, "it's too early. What's wrong?"

He picked her up and spun her around. "Lils, we're going to get our replies from the Auror and Healer Academies today!"

Lily laughed. "James! Put me down!"

He did so and looked at her expectantly.

"What?" she asked. "I'm glad that our letters will come today, but I really don't know why you woke me up so early."

Something clicked in James' head. "I forgot you didn't know! Ministry letters always come at eight in the morning, unless there's an emergency or something."

Lily looked at James with raised eyebrows. "Alright. Give me a few minutes to change into clean clothes," she said, heading for her bathroom and shaking her head as James flopped onto her bed.

"PRONGS!" Sirius screamed from the kitchen. "Prongs! Post's here! OUR LETTERS ARE HERE!"

The second that Lily opened the door, James grabbed her hand and Apparated to the window Sirius was standing next to.

As soon as the owls reached the window, three hands shot out, grabbing their letters as fast as they could.

"Yes!" Sirius yelled, pumping his fist. "I'm in!"

"Me too!" James shouted, turning to look at Lily, who was holding her letter and staring at it sadly.

James walked over to her and hugged her. "I can't believe you didn't get in, Lils. I'm so sorry. Who do I have to go talk to?"

At this, Lily looked up in alarm. "Don't! Then I _will_ lose the job!"

"So you did get in?" James asked slowly, watching Lily nod. "Lily Evans, you are not a nice person!"

Lily looked at him innocently. "Actually, I think my boyfriend and his best friends are corrupting me again."

James smirked. "Wouldn't have it any other way. Congratulations, Lils. I'm proud of you."

"And I'm proud of you. Let's go get breakfast before Sirius eats it all."

Three days later, alarm clocks began blaring at 6:00. It was the first day of work at the Academies for all three people living in James' house, and they were all running around like chickens with their heads cut off.

For a while, a shouting game was being played on the third floor.

"James, have you seen my black shoes?" Lily yelled.

"No! Has anyone seen my silver robe clasps?"

"Sorry, Prongs," Sirius yelled from his room.

"I haven't, James. Sirius, have you seen my black shoes?"

Sirius stuck his head out of his room. "I think they might be outside on the porch. Has anyone seen my wand?"

Lily and James both yelled back, "You lost your wand?"

"Um, yeah. Oh, wait! It was under my bed!"

Lily walked out of her room and almost ran into James, who was wearing his work robes just like she was.

Lily shook her head. "I don't even want to know."

"He probably ended up sleeping under his bed or something last night."

"But, why?"

James shrugged. "You've known his for over seven years now, Lils. You'll have to answer that one on your own."

A few minutes later, as Lily and James were eating breakfast, Sirius skidded right into the table as he ran into the room, spilling Lily's pumpkin juice onto her pristine white robes.

"Sirius!" she cried, exasperated.

He cringed, "I'm really, really sorry, Lily. Please don't kill me."

She shook her head and ran back to her room to change, and reappeared in the kitchen a few minutes later wearing a set of clean robes.

"Lily?" Sirius asked as she sat down. "Are you mad at me?"

As James laughed at Sirius' puppy dog face, Lily shook her head. "A little, yes, but it's fine. I didn't kill you at school, so why would I kill you just for spilling juice on me?"

James walked up behind Lily and hugged her. "Now, if _I_ spilled the juice on her, I'd be dead in a heartbeat."

"Of course not, James!" Lily cried. "As much as I'd love to stay here and discuss what the two of you would have to do to prompt me to kill you, showing up late for the first day of training probably wouldn't be the best idea."

"Alright," James said, kissing Lily on the top of her head. "Have a good day."

"You too," she said, before Apparating to St. Mungos.

Lily Apparated back into the bigger living room of James' house and saw James and Sirius sprawled out over the couches. She pushed James' feet off of the couch and sat down, raising her eyebrows. "How'd it go?" she asked.

James gently pushed Lily off the couch with his feet, stretched out again, and groaned.

"You know," Lily said, thoughtfully. "I _am_ a Healer trainee. I could probably look up some spell for pain or something."

"Hurry!" Sirius mumbled into the pillow he had over his face.

Lily left for her room and came back with a basic healing book. A few minutes later, James and Sirius were willing to talk.

"How was your day?" Lily asked again.

"Painful," James winced. "I'm really out of shape."

"But, Quidditch-"

"You can only get so much out of flying on a broom, Lils."

Lily shrugged. "I guess. What did they make you do?"

Sirius answered. "Well, we were introduced to all the aurors and the other trainee, and then given a tour of the place. Then they made us duel three qualified aurors each. We got thrown into a couple walls, and then we had to duel another guy."

"Then," James said, "we had to fight a couple people with hand-to-hand combat. There was a preliminary test that was about a mile long, so by the end of that, even our fingers were sore. Apparently, Mondays and Fridays are dueling and fighting practice days, Tuesdays and Thursdays are lessons on potions and disguises and stuff, and Wednesdays are either office training or getting experience in real scenarios."

He took in Lily's white robes, which now had a small blue stain on one sleeve and a copper colored stain on the other. "What about you, Lils?"

"Interesting," Lily said. "Basically, all I did today was visit all the different departments and take a tour of pretty much the whole hospital. The five of us were introduced to the heads of all the departments, as well."

"Why's there blood and blue goo on your robes?" Sirius asked.

Lily scowled. "The one guy they had me test and treat was sneezing blood and twitching. This blue goo is the potion for him, but he twitched and spilled it all over me. By the end of the week, I need to decide which department I want to go into, and wait to see if they'll let me in."

"What are you thinking of doing, then?" James asked.

"Pediatric or maternity ward, probably," she said. "Good day though?"

"Yup," James nodded. "You?"

"Excellent."


	39. The Question

A/N: Guess what? It's the day I said I'd update and I'm actually updating! Isn't that exciting? Just forget about the fact that it's at the end of the day... Anyway, there are only two more chapters after this one, so after a couple years of my bad updating, it's almost done. On that note, please read, review, and as always, enjoy!

About a month later, James was standing outside Lily's bedroom, waiting for her to come out.

When she did, he quickly stopped her, saying, "Let's go for a picnic. I'll go grab a basket of food and you should probably change into something a little warmer. Grab your broom and meet me by the front door, okay?"

"Um, sure," Lily said, surprised. "I guess I'll see you in about five minutes then."

Sure enough, five minutes later Lily and James met in the foyer.

"Where are we going?" Lily asked her boyfriend as he shrank the picnic basket and tucked it carefully into a pocket in his cloak.

James smirked, saying, "I guess you'll have to wait and see. Follow me."

He kicked off and flew for almost ten minutes, followed by Lily, before he began his descent to a clearing in a forest down the road from his house.

It was a natural clearing, but had clearly been enhanced by man. The leafy trees curved in a perfect circle around a white picnic table and its two matching benches. The ground had been cleared of leaves, and the green grass made a lush carpet for the meadow.

"Let me guess," Lily said, smirking. "This is another place where James Potter comes to think?"

"Exactly, but you and I are the only ones who know about this place."

With a flourish, he spread a white tablecloth over the table, and, after restoring the basket to full size, began heaping the small table with what seemed to be a full course meal for two. After placing two bottles of butterbeer on the table, he pulled out the bench Lily was standing behind, and then finally sat down himself.

"So," Lily said as they ate. "What's with the sudden formality, and why is it in the woods again?"

"What?" James asked, offended. "I'm not allowed to take my girlfriend for a nice meal? And it's in the woods because this is the only place we could go where Sirius can't find us."

Lily shrugged. "Good points. When have we not been interrupted by Sirius when on a date?"

They continued talking as they ate, and when they finished, James took a deep breath.

As Lily looked at him quizzically, he stuck his hand into his pocket and slowly pushed back his bench so he could get down on one knee.

He took another deep breath and quietly said, "Lily Evans, will you marry me?"

James looked expectantly up at Lily, who silently nodded her head. He stood up, slipped the engagement ring onto Lily's hand, and hugged and kissed her.

"So, you did have alternate motives for the formality and secrecy?" Lily asked.

James grinned. "You could say that. Do you want to head home and tell Sirius?"

They quickly packed up the meadow and flew back to James' house, where they soon found Sirius sitting in the theatre room and talking to Remus.

"Where did you two go?" Sirius asked. "Me and Remus checked every single room in the house. Twice!"

"We went for a broom ride," James explained.

"Oh. Why didn't you invite me?"

Lily raised her left hand and waved it a little.

Confused, Sirius said, "Hi, Lily. Why are you waving at me?"

She rolled her eyes, walked up to Sirius, and put her hand right in front of his eyes.

"Hey! That's a really nice ring, Lily," he said, right before his eyes grew wide. "Holy Merlin, it's a ring! You're getting married! Moony, they're getting married!"

Remus grinned and walked over to Lily and James, offering his congratulations.

"How long have you been planning this, Prongs?" Remus asked.

"And how come you didn't tell us?" Sirius whined.

James ran a hand through his hair and laughed. "I've had the ring for about a month now, actually. I just couldn't find the right time, or the courage."

Lily looked up at her now-fiancé. "I thought James Potter had the courage to do everything."

"You're the one exception, Lils," he replied.

Sirius cut in. "That still doesn't let us know why you didn't tell us."

James looked up from the video collection he was digging through and said, "If I told you, there was a good chance Lily would have found out. Plus, it would have ruined the surprise for you as well. It's just that simple. Remus, do you want to stay for a movie?"

Moments later, they were sprawled around the theatre room, talking, eating and throwing popcorn, and ready to enjoy a movie night.


	40. Wedding Planning

**AN:** Okay, so clearly by now we all know I am incapable of sticking to the update promises that I always make. So from now on, the only promise I'm going to make is this – I continue to update, just not terribly regularly. It's a combination of working, starting college, and working on three writing projects at once. . Check out my other fics, and as always, Read, Review, and Enjoy!

Disclaimer: All music mentioned belongs to the bands mentioned along with them

**Chapter 40**

A few weeks later, Lily and James were in one of the private studies, sitting at a large table littered with picture, magazines, and scraps of parchment.

"What do we do, Lils?" James asked. "Neither one of us knows how to plan a wedding."

"No," Lily replied. "I'm sure we can figure it out though. For instance, where do we want it to be held?" 

The two of them began pouring over pictures and notes about wizarding halls and church buildings available for rent.

After crumpling up and throwing away almost all of their information, James looked up and said, "What about here? In the backyard? We could make Sirius clean up the back garden and get it decorated and all."

Lily nodded and began writing on a clean sheet of parchment. "That's a good idea. Do we want to plan on three months from now? It probably won't take much to plan a small wedding. Who'll actually be in the wedding?"

"Us," James said. "And Sirius as best man."

"Dina as maid of honor."

As Lily continued writing down notes, James asked, "Who are we going to invite?"

"Well, Remus, Peter, Steph, and Cali, obviously. Maybe Dumbledore, McGonagall, and Hagrid. I suppose we ought to invite my sister and her husband, as well." 

"If you don't want to invite them, Lils, we don't have to."

Lily waved it off. "No, it's fine. We can invite them, I'm sure they won't even consider coming."

They sat in silence for a few moments, and then James changed the subject. "So! Reception! Where will that be at?"

Lily grinned, appreciating the topic change. "We could use the great room, couldn't we?"

James nodded. "Sounds good. We can have whoever decorates the garden decorate that room, too."

"I thought Sirius was in charge of the decoration. He'll be crushed if we hire someone," Lily said with a smirk.

"Hey, this is our wedding! I am _not_ putting Sirius in charge of decorations. Now, for the fun part - music!"

"What about all the other stuff? You know, food, flowers, clothes?"

James shrugged. "I'm going to leave most of that up to you. Music, Lils! Your pick."

She pulled a new piece of parchment towards her and started writing down the names of songs as she said them. "Most of these are Beatles songs_. All my Loving, I've Just Seen a Face, I Want to Hold Your Hand, Something, She Loves You Ya Ya_, and _It Wont' Be Long. _But then we can have – wait, James, are you sure I can pick all the music?"

"As long as the rest of it is something other than the Beatles. Not that I have any problems with them, but a little variety might be nice. No more Beatles?" James said.

"No more Beatles," Lily reassured him.

"Then, by all means, continue listing songs."

Lily laughed and turned back to her list. "_What I Like About You_, by the Romantics, _So Happy Together_, by the Turtles, _You Can't Hurry Love_, by the Supremes, _You Really Got Me_, by the Kinks, _I'm a Believer_, by the Monkees, and _There Once Was a Man_, from the Pajama Game."

"They all have to do with love," James pointed out.

"Which is why I picked them for our wedding."

"Off the top of your head?"

Lily nodded. "And if you don't mind, I've got a poem that I want to read."

"You wrote a poem for me, Lils?" James asked, surprised.

Lily nodded once again.

Shortly after, the door to the study flew open and Sirius walked in.

"Um, if I'm not interrupting anything, I've got an announcement to make," he said.

James pushed a pile of magazines off a chair and motioned for Sirius to sit down.

"I'm going to be moving into Remus' flat in a couple of weeks."

Lily and James looked at him, confused.

"You've lived here for almost four years, mate," James said. "Why would you move out?"

"Because you're getting married. It's one thing for a guy to live with his best friend and his friends girlfriend, but it's completely different to live with your friend and his wife."

"But, Sirius," Lily said. "You and James are practically brothers! It's not so weird for a guy to live with his brother."

Sirius shook his head. "You can say anything you want to, but I'm still moving out. If you're going to miss me that much though, don't worry. I'll still be here during most of my free time. Plus, I've got to decorate for your wedding!"

"Sirius!" James said, loudly. "We don't care if you spend all your time here, but we just decided that we're going to hire a decorator."

Sirius feigned heart break. "You're replacing me?" he said with a bad attempt to look sad. "I can't believe you, Prongs, I thought we were like brothers!"

James looked at him, exasperated. "You can't honestly say that you thought we'd really let you decorate!"

Sirius shrugged. "It's alright. I knew you weren't that crazy. How goes the wedding planning?"

"Did you know that Lily's obsessed with the Beatles?" James asked.

"With bugs? Not gonna lie, that's really odd, Lily."

So, they settled down and began explaining their plans to Sirius, which proved interesting, because Sirius required every song to be sung, and every detail described as much as possible.


	41. The Happy Ending

**A/N: So I was on my profile today and realized how long it's been since I updated this, which is just cruel, since I left it so close to the end and it's been done for such a long time. Um, notes about the poem and the music. The poem is something that I wrote my freshman year of high school during a poetry unit – we were told to write a love poem, and that's what I wrote, thinking about either this story or just the Lily/James relationship that I picture in my head. The music… yeah, not mine haha. All My Loving and I've Just Seen a Face by the Beatles, and I'm a Believer, by the Monkees. So, here it is, the final chapter to my second fanfic. **

Three months later, Lily and Dina stood in front of the mirror in Lily's bedroom, Lily wearing her wedding dress and Dina wearing her light blue bridesmaid dress.

"Wow," Lily muttered. "I'm about to marry James Potter."

Dina laughed. "I never thought I'd live to see that happen."

"Trust me, I didn't either," Lily said, re-brushing her hair.

"You two might possibly have the weirdest relationship I've ever seen," Dina commented.

"Really? How so?" Lily teased.

"Lets see. You were best friends back in 2nd year, and then wound up hating each other. At some point along the way, James realized he was head over heels for you. You continued to hate him until tragedy brought the two of you together, and then you finally agreed to go out with him. Now you're getting married. Oh, you're right, there's nothing weird at all about your relationship."

Meanwhile, Sirius watched James as he paced back and forth in the small tent set up for the wedding party in the garden.

Sirius laughed. "In all the years I've known you, I have _never_ seen you this nervous."

James turned to face him. "It's my _wedding_, Sirius! In fifteen minutes, I'm going to marry Lily Evans! Of course, I'm nervous! Everyone's probably nervous before their wedding."

"Be happy, mate, not nervous," Sirius said. "You're about to marry the girl who rejected you for years!"

James stopped pacing and glared at his best friend. "Really _not_ helping with the nerves, mate!"

Sirius continued. "Don't worry. She loves you to much to leave you at the altar or-"

"SIRIUS!" James almost shouted.

"Yeah?"

"Please. Just, shut up!"

Shortly after, James and Sirius went to stand next to the minister on the raised platform that had been built in the garden.

Soon, the Bridal March began to play, and all eyes turned to the entrance to the garden, where Lily stood on the end of the white silk carpet that led up to the altar.

She joined James and the two of them turned to the minister, holding hands.

"We are gathered here today in the face of this company, to join James Potter and Lily Evans in matrimony, which is an honorable and solemn estate and therefore is not to be entered into unadvisedly or lightly, but reverently and soberly. If any one can show just cause why they may not be lawfully joined together, let them speak now or forever hold their peace."

The minister glanced around at the small number of people present, and on hearing no objections, continued, turning to face James.

"James Potter, do you take Lily Evans for your lawful wedded wife, to live in the holy estate of matrimony? Will you love, honor, comfort, and cherish her from this day forward, forsaking all others, keeping only unto her for as long as you both shall live?"

"I do," James responded.

The minister then turned to Lily, and proceeded to ask her the same questions, to which she too answered, "I do."

"At this point, the bride wishes to read a poem," the minister stated.

Lily nodded and turned to face the small audience. "This is a poem that I wrote; it's called _Destined to Be_.

"From the second you saw me, you knew,

Knew that we would be destined.

You'd ask me time after time,

Time after time I told you no.

You tried to let me meet you,

But I just pushed you away.

"After all these years,

I finally know you.

I've changed,

And I know you have, too.

You have been right from the start.

You knew from the second you saw me,

And now I have to agree.

We have always been destined to be."

The minister thanked Lily and proceeded with the marriage vows, asking James to repeat after him. "I, James Potter, take thee, Lily Evans, to be my wedded wife, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, to love, honor, and cherish, 'til death do us part."

Lily was then asked to repeat the same vows, and then the minister motioned for Sirius to give James Lily's ring.

"With this ring, I thee wed. Wear it as a symbol of our love and commitment," James said, before placing the ring on Lily's finger.

Lily then slide James' ring onto his finger, again saying, "With this ring, I thee wed. Wear it as a symbol of our love and commitment."

The minister began to speak again. "May this couple be prepared to continue to give, be able to forgive and experience more and more joy with each passing day, with each passing year. James and Lily are now beginning their married life together, we hope that they may have loving assistance from their family, the constant support of their friends, and live a long life with good health and everlasting love. In so much as James and Lily have consented to live forever together in wedlock, and have witnessed the same before this company, having given and pledged their troth, each to the other, and having declared same by the giving and receiving of a ring, I pronounce that they are husband and wife. You may now seal the promises you have made with each other with a kiss."

James slowly lifted the veil from Lily's face and kissed her, before they both turned to face their audience.

"Ladies and gentlemen," the minister said, "I present to you the loving couple, Mr. and Mrs. James Potter."

As their friends clapped fro them, Lily and James walked hand in hand up the white carpet and into the great room, to wait for their guests to join them.

After everyone had begun to eat, Sirius stood up and clinked his spoon against his glass.

"You all already know this, but I'm going to do it the way it's supposed to be done. So, I'm the best man, Sirius Black, and I can't say how glad I am to be the one to say this, but sweet Merlin, you two! Finally!

"I've been there to watch this relationship play out since the beginning, when we were all innocent little first years at school.

"Lily and James have had the ultimate love – hate relationship. At the beginning, they were great friends, and made a great team. We then entered what I like to call the 'Broken Team' phase, during which they wouldn't even talk to each other. Then James realized he was hopelessly in love with Lils, and chased her for years. All that resulted in was an angry Lily, a depressed James, and 374 rejections.

"Then something clicked, and since that day the two of them have been almost inseparable, and the happiest they've been in a long time. They reforged the team.

"I know that they're both close to fainting right now because I just gave such a wonderful speech, so I'll end it on this note. I'm so glad to see the two of you together and happy, and I speak for all of us when I say that I know you'll lead a wonderful, happy life together. To Lily and James!"

The room echoed with the sound of the toast being repeated and glasses being clinked together, and slowly everyone went back to eating.

When they were done, they watched as Lily and James cut their cake together, and then moved to the area that had been cleared for dancing. Soon after, the music Lily had picked up began to play.

The first dance was for the bride and groom, and was to _All my Loving_.

'_Close your eyes and I'll kiss you, _

_Tomorrow I'll miss you;_

_Remember I'll always be true._

_And then while I'm away,_

_I'll write home every day, _

_And I'll send all my loving to you._

_I'll pretend that I'm kissing_

_The lips I am missing_

_And hope that my dreams will come true._

_All my loving, I will send to you._

_All my loving, darling I'll be true._

_All my loving, all my loving,_

_All my loving, I will send to you.'_

The guests soon joined the dancing, spinning and swirling to the music that was drifting throughout the room.

'_I've just seen a face,_

_I can't forget the time or place_

_Where we just met._

_She's just the girl for me_

_And I want all the world to see_

_We've met, mmm-mmm-mmm-m'mmm-mmm._

_Falling, yes I am falling,_

_And she keeps calling_

_Me back again.'_

'_I thought love was only true in fairy tales_

_Meant for someone else but not for me._

_Love was out to get me_

_That's the way it seemed._

_Disappointment haunted all my dreams._

_Then I saw her face, now I'm a believer_

_Not a trace of doubt in my mind._

_I'm in love, I'm a believer!_

_I couldn't leave her if I tried.'_

Hours later, Lily and James went back to the garden and were followed by their guests. They shrunk a few bags and James grabbed a broomstick, which they both got onto.

With waves, they kicked off and left for their honeymoon tour around Europe. The banner flying behind their broom read 'JUST MARRIED.'


End file.
